Silently Complicit No More
The following article is one of a series of accounts from students who recently returned from Arizona. They were part of a delegation that spent a week touring the state amid the enactment of controversial law SB 1070. The Center for New Community, a national civil rights organization based in Chicago, sponsored the trip, which included nine students from Washington D.C., New York, Chicago and Colorado.
By Nina Masters
I came to Arizona knowing the immorality and injustice of SB 1070. I left understanding the individual lives torn apart by this law, the children living in fear of men in uniform dragging their parents, uncles, or grandmothers away from them before their very eyes. This trip cemented my conviction that those in this country without documents are human beings. They are simply trying to make a better life for themselves and their children.
Pursuing the American Dream, the promise of hope, they are not criminals and do not deserve to be criminalized as part of a white nationalist agenda. Hearing the heart-wrenching accounts of children my age who have been through more fear, injustice, and suffering than anyone should endure makes me ashamed of the country that I live in. I have realized that by not actively helping these humans—humans who are treated like animals – I am complicit in the racist actions of Sheriff Arpaio, Russell Pearce, and all of the men and women like them. Read more
Beck-oning God: Piety, Politics, and Power in White
From the time Europeans stepped foot on these shores the culture of “Manifest Destiny”—the notion that God mandated their journey, settlement, and power—has imbued white America. It drove the displacement of native peoples; provided Biblical justification for slavery; nurtured Jim Crow and horrific racial violence; and cultivated nativism, religious bigotry, and white, Christian nationalism—all in the name of “God.”
The thick piety and self-righteousness, the assumed privilege and power of that culture was once again on public display in D.C. Saturday as hundreds of thousands of “disaffected” and “aggrieved” whites and their proclaimed leaders sought to re-stake their inherent claim to God’s blessings in a nation allegedly subsumed by “darkness.” “Darkness.” They would never understand just how revealing were their own racially-tinged words. They would never comprehend how deeply offensive was their rancid attempt to hijack the mantle of Dr. King and a movement grounded so deeply in faithfulness grown out of suffering and death. Read more
Hope in the Making, Somali Americans Run for School Board
The most recent primary election was quite extraordinary for a new group of Americans who live in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. For the last 10 or so years, school issues have been a big topic of discussion for the Somali and minority communities in Saint Cloud. Students who are refugees or are the children of refugees face unique challenges. Somali parents have had a frustrating time trying to get school officials and board members to understand those challenges, and help their children flourish in the school system.
Unfortunately, the response by school officials made it clear that they were not ready to acknowledge the demographic changes in this small city of 68,000 with minorities making up a third of the population. Sticking to the status quo has become the practice of the school district leaders. Read more
Cross-Post: Christian Action Network Mounts Comeback on Islamophobic Agenda
By Bill Berkowitz.
Originally published on Buzzflash on Wed, 08/25/2010
The Christian Action Network, a long-time anti-gay/National Endowment for the Arts organization is back on the scene with ‘Islam Rising,’ a film, it claims, ’exposes the dangers of radical Islam to the Western world.’
Months before the current controversy over the building of an Islamic community center a few blocks from Ground Zero brought a host of professional anti-Muslim bigots out of the woodwork, a small group, long associated with a bevy of Religious Right causes, was marketing its own brand of Islamophobia. Welcome to the world of the Christian Action Network.
Throughout the past two decades, the Christian Action Network CAN), founded in 1990 by Martin Mawyer, has been a relatively marginal, yet occasionally effective, Religious Right enterprise. During the early-nineties’ epic congressional battles fought over the conservative movement’s efforts to de-fund the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), the CAN received a fair amount of notoriety. These days, the Christian Action Network is involved in what they would probably describe as an even more epic battle: The fight against the Islamization of the Western World. Read more
‘This Trip Has Hit Me in My Heart’
The following article is one of a series of accounts from students who recently returned from Arizona. They were part of a delegation that spent a week touring the state amid the enactment of controversial law SB 1070. The Center for New Community, a national civil rights organization based in Chicago, sponsored the trip, which included nine students from Washington D.C., New York, Chicago and Colorado.
By Efrain Ramirez
I never thought that I had enough water in me to be able to cry everyday. It really felt like I was mourning the death of someone. This trip to Arizona hasn’t been an educational experience; it’s been an emotional rollercoaster that took a heavy toll on me. It was one of the hardest experiences of my life. This trip really started years before, even before I was born.
My mom is an undocumented immigrant from Mexico. She crossed the border 20 years ago. Before that, she had a baby girl who died a few days after birth and from that point my mom knew she didn’t want to have any children in Mexico. She wanted a better future for children – children who hadn’t been conceived yet. She has crossed the border three times in her life. The last time she crossed was in 2001. We went to Mexico to see her family for the first time in 10 years and since then she hadn’t seen her family until two months ago via Skype. Read more
The Green War on Immigrants
Bigotry. That isn’t the first word that comes to mind when one thinks about environmentalism, but green bigotry is real and growing. A web of individuals, groups and funders who identify themselves as environmentalists are dividing the environmental movement and moving it away from solutions that are inclusive of diverse communities.
The good news is we can take a stand against the greening of hate. Read more
“The Other:” Barack Obama and the Fight for American Identity
A scant nineteen months into office, Barack Obama has become the lightning rod for the unfolding fight for American identity—a fight that will last far into the twenty-first century as the country becomes minority white and dramatically more pluralistic.
That some twenty percent of the population (a significant increase since January 2009) think the President is a Muslim is but one indicator of the breadth of this fight and the success of those waging it. Religion, race, birth status, and the “legitimacy of citizenship” are at the very heart of the recent surge in attacks on Obama, and are at the core of the battle not only on immigration, but also on the “status” of all peoples of color. Making the President “The Other”—the One unlike the “us” of the dominant white Christian population—makes it so much easier to make “The Other” of all peoples of color and of all those of differing religious beliefs. Welcome to 1840 America. Read more
Misperceptions about President Obama’s Religion Fueled by Racism
Despite President Obama clearly stating that he is a Christian, nearly one in five Americans incorrectly believes he is Muslim. The nonpartisan group Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life conducted a poll (between July 21 and August 5) and found of those surveyed, 18% identified Obama as Muslim.
What’s disconcerting about this isn’t the growing, media-perpetuated confusion about the President’s faith, but the negative connotations asserted in this poll. Of those 18% who believe Obama is Muslim nearly all disapprove of the job the President is doing. With the debate over the proposed mosque in lower Manhattan and the protests that went on over the weekend it’s clear the anti-Muslim sentiment is on the rise. Muslims are being demonized and this perception of Obama as a Muslim is shroud both in racism and religious intolerance. The wide racial divide can clearly be seen with the number of whites whose perception of a Muslim Obama rose from 11% to 21% in just over a year, yet there was virtually no change in blacks’ views on the President’s religion or faith. Read more
Babies of Vulnerable Immigrant Women Taken Away
A recent lawsuit involving state agencies and a baby wrongly taken from an immigrant mother exposes the injustices that occur when power, privilege and immigration collide.
The lawsuit filed by the Southern Poverty Law Center on Aug. 12, 2010 alleges that Mississippi authorities took a newborn baby from a Mexican immigrant mother and placed the child with a white couple. The SPLC also has appealed an earlier gag order that prohibited the mother and her lawyers from speaking publicly about her family’s ordeal.
“Mississippi officials and hospital workers conspired to steal Cirila Baltazar Cruz’s baby by inventing false charges against her – allegations she couldn’t refute because she doesn’t speak the right language – and then told her she couldn’t talk about it,” said SPLC Legal Director Mary Bauer. “This was an outrageous violation of her most fundamental rights, and we’re deeply concerned that other mothers in Mississippi might be subjected to the same treatment.” Read more
The Manhattan Mosque: Of Republican Bigots and Spineless Democrats
It’s amazing. Republican bigots continue to pile on the anti-Islam, anti-mosque bandwagon, and Democrats continue to get sucked into their trap of right-wing demagoguery, spineless and afraid of their own shadow. Even Harry Reid, majority leader of the U.S. Senate, has fallen prey, refusing to stand up to the lure of the Manhattan mosque controversy when his right-wing opponent called him out on it; it should go somewhere else, he asserted. The President himself waffled on the issue, most likely as a result of Democratic pressure to just keep quiet about it. By such reasoning, no Christian church should be anywhere near the site of the Oklahoma City bombing of 1995.
The utterly shameless Republican assault on the Manhattan mosque/community center for partisan political advantage is sheer bigotry. That these foul bigots go virtually unchallenged is equally shameless. Spineless Democrats, instead of fighting back and using the stirred-up controversy as a basic civics lesson, have run for cover once again, as they have so often when tea-stained Republicans, nativists, and demagogues raise their voices or shake their fists. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg is among the few politicians who took strong leadership on the issue, standing up to the bigots, and affirming the City’s rightful position of support for the Islamic center near Ground Zero in his elegant remarks delivered on Governor’s Island August 3. Read more
Defending the 14th Amendment
The 14th Amendment is the affirmation that all persons born or naturalized in the United States and subject to its jurisdiction are, in fact, U.S. citizens. Efforts to dismantle are moving us backwards on American democracy.
It would take us back to a time when all other people, besides those of European descent, were not good enough to be first class citizens or worthy of attaining any status in this country.
I’m sure that after ratifying the amendment in 1866, lawmakers did not intend for it to be overturned. Advocates for changing the landmark bill are afraid of how immigration will affect the demographics, and are desperate to control the racial composition of the nation. I’m not an expert in immigration or Constitutional law, but I can give some reason as to why this is happening and why it’s a bad idea. Read more
Cross-Post: The 2010 Without Housing Update Has Arrived!
From WRAP’s (Western Regional Advocacy Project) blog:
We’re at a critical juncture for housing policy in this country: millions of Americans are homeless and tens of millions more are on the brink of economic collapse.
The 2010 Update focuses public attention back on the #1 reason for this housing mess: the Federal Government’s divestment in affordable housing programs and deregulation of the housing market. Most importantly, it helps people understand these complex issues and provides a framework for turning this situation around.
“I am an American”
Photo by RBruceMontgomery
When Amanda Standerfer was the Library Director at the Helen Matthes Public Library in Effingham in downstate Illinois she was disturbed by the snarky comments of some library patrons who were offended by kids in the children’s area speaking Spanish. She got remarks like “Who are they?” “Why aren’t they speaking English?” And her favorite: “Why are THOSE kids using OUR library?” So Amanda won a grant to launch a program in 2007 to help people learn about their own neighbors called “I am an American.”
Effingham is a town of 12,384 people. In the 2000 census those people were 98% white, 1 % Hispanic, and the remainder a mix of Asian, African-American, Native American, or a combination of two of the above. Because it sits at the intersection of two major Interstate highways, I-57 running from Chicago to the very southern tip of Illinois and 1- 70 running from Utah to Maryland, it pitches itself as the “Crossroads of Opportunity” but it is most famous for the 198 foot tall steel cross that you can see from the highway. Read more
Street Theater, a Silent Senator, and Dreams
My Democratic senator is silent about immigration–how about yours?
Even though the worst parts of the Arizona SB 1070 law are temporarily blocked, Republican extremists continue to push anti-immigrant legislation. Last week, more Republicans called for a repeal of the 14th amendment and birthright citizenship.
But what’s even more disturbing is how many Democrats are silent to this crisis. Take, for example, my home state and Sen. Kay Hagan (D-NC). In June, three young women went on a two week hunger strike near Hagan’s office in Raleigh. They wanted our senator to support the Dream Act, legislation that would give hope to 1.5 million undocumented young people, many of whom are students. Read more
The Nativist Epidemic: “Christian” Bigots and their Attacks on Islam
It is an appropriate day—this first day of Ramadan—to call out and counter those “Christian” bigots and nativists fueling the rising number of attacks on Islam and on mosques across the nation. Their actions are despicable, their religiosity abominable. And the clergy who are stirring up the cauldrons of anti-Muslim hate are themselves to blame for the civic unrest and potential for violence that they seed and sow.
While these despicable attacks on Islam and on mosques stretch from coast to coast, so do counteractions by Christian and Jewish religious leaders and communities who themselves have taken to the streets in large numbers to rightly condemn the bigotry. National Christian leaders need to step more boldly into the fray and make it clear that there is no room for anti-Islamic bigotry in the U.S.; quietness on this matter is not an option. Read more
Audio Blog: Freedom of Religion Defines America
Press play below or click on the microphone
If you’ve watched the network news lately, you’ve probably seen coverage of the proposed Mosque and Islamic Cultural Center near the former site of the World Trade Center towers.
A huge amount of prime time space has been given to protesters of the Mosque, a group that includes Tea Party members, anti-Islamic activists and, sadly, the Anti-Defamation League or the ADL. The ADL is a long-standing Jewish civil rights organization that released a statement in opposition to the planned Mosque and Cultural Center.
While the ADL’s statement is disappointing to say the least, it shouldn’t overshadow the Jewish community as a whole that has come together in support of the Islamic Cultural Center by writing blogs, letters to the editor and organizing rallies and press conferences. Read more
Tea Party Nation Asks Supporters to Tell “Horror Stories” About Undocumented Immigrants
Since the Tea Party vehicle started there has been a constant debate over whether the movement is racist. While critics aren’t painting the entire movement as such, there are Tea Party leaders that have made headlines with racially insensitive rhetoric, and evidence of racist sentiments at Tea Party events across the nation abound.
In the beginning, the main issues for the Tea Partiers were big government and government spending, but as time goes on the issue of immigration has turned into a focal point for the movement.
One faction of the Tea Party that is not afraid to associate with nativism and xenophobia is the Tea Party Nation, led by Tennessee lawyer Judson Phillips. Earlier this week, the Tea Party Nation sent out an email to its 35,000 members asking them to post their “horror stories” about undocumented immigrants. Read more
Aryan Nations Leader Running Unopposed For School Board in California
UPDATE: Last night another person filed papers to run for the school board position which means that Daniel Schruender is no longer running unopposed.
Daniel Schruender, the director of publications and information for the California chapter of the Aryan Nations 88, has filed papers (scroll to page 58) to run for a school board position in Rialto, California. Schruender announced his plans on his blog in which he stated, “Today, August 2, 2010, the Aryan Nations has moved from talking about running for political office to actually doing it. Many of you read a previous post on the forum, and an article in the last issue of the Quarterly where I said I was considering it. I decided to put my money where my mouth is, so to speak.”
Schruender’s group, Aryan Nations 88, is one of many spin off groups descending from the original Aryan Nations, which was widely considered one of the country’s leading white supremacist groups. Based on a large compound in Hayden Lake, Idaho, Aryan Nations was founded by white supremacist Richard Butler. Butler also happened to be a pioneer in the Christian Identity movement, a religious movement that believes salvation is solely for whites, that people of color are soulless, and that Jews are the spawns of Satan. Read more
FAIR’s Stein Unmasks: 14th Amendment Should Not Be Allowed to “enslave our thinking”
Dan Stein, FAIR
If you consider yourself committed to civil, immigrant, and human rights and have ignored the white nationalist agenda of the organized, anti-immigrant movement, Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR) president Dan Stein’s recent assertion on the 14th Amendment to the Constitution ought to get your attention.
In a Wall Street Journal article on the mounting political attack against birthright citizenship, Stein stated, “”We should not allow language from 1868 to enslave our thinking…in the 21st century.”
“Enslave” our thinking? “Enslave?” Stein would speak of one of the most important Amendments to the Constitution—guaranteeing citizenship to African Americans from 1868 onward—as “enslaving” our thinking? His choice of words is utterly mind-boggling, and scathingly revealing. Stein has unmasked, and what we see once again is the true face of the white nationalist agenda of FAIR, The Tanton Network, and all their small-minded allies “who want their (white) country back” from immigrants, African Americans, and other peoples of color. Read more
Somali Community Concerned About Recent Vandalism
The red spray paint on the front window of Somali-owned Hormud Market had not a so subtle message: “GO HOME.”
The bigot who painted the graffiti could have chosen any other grocery store in town, but painting those sentiments in front of a Somali-owned grocery store clearly represent the hateful attacks on Somali residents and all of the – largely peaceful – residents of Saint Cloud.
This is not the first time a Somali-owned grocery store has been vandalized in Saint Cloud or that the community has seen race-based issues flare up. From time to time over the last decade this has been a traumatic experience for the Somali refugees in Saint Cloud. Read more
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