July 4, 2009: Reflection, Celebration, and Struggle
July 4th one year ago was all about nostalgia. In last year’s post I wrote about celebrating the 4th of July as a kid and why it is still my favorite holiday,
Earlier in the day we would attend, or sometimes host our neighborhood’s famous backyard pancake breakfast. The hosts made the pancakes, and everyone brought another dish, usually bacon (I swear you’ve never seen so many plates of bacon!). Afterwards we would go to the town fair - jump in the moonwalk until we were sick, have our faces painted, get soaked in the water balloon toss, and maybe take a whirl on the miniature ponies. Depending on the leniency of my mom that particular year my brother and I may have even split a funnel cake or a root beer float. Regardless, by late afternoon, our minds inevitably turned to fried chicken. Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, biscuits, coleslaw and from-the-box brownies to be exact.”
I remember feeling that I needed to capture something about years past with my post. Something sweet to hold on to in case the America I yearned for was swept away. Certainly we knew what was to come; like the smell of rain before the storm, the winds of change were already blowing. Read more
Breaking News, Michael Jackson is Still Dead!
I love Michael Jackson’s music, but what I love more is intelligent, relevant information about the rest of the world. I made a loose decision a few weeks ago not to cover the Iranian uprising on our little blog, as it was receiving extensive mainstream and independent press. But how very ironic and sadly typical that this protest movement (that effects the entire world) is dethroned in the hearts and minds of Americans (literally in an instant) by a pop star.
This is a strange opportunity to see just how being a journalist in this nation differs from being a journalist elsewhere. In other places journalists fear for their lives. Seeking, exposing, and distributing the truth is dangerous work in places with deep issues. But does this mean that we don’t have complicated social issues to deal with in the US? Or does it mean that we’ve been lulled into complacent acceptance of “fluff’ news by media conglomerates that smother the very essence of journalism? Read more
Holocaust Museum Shooting Implies Deeper Domestic Terror Threat
Yesterday’s shooting was pre-meditated and foreseeable. Everything about the shooting at the Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington was intentional. Even James Von Brunn’s age, 88, may have been meant to send a message. 88 is a number revered by Hitler-worshipers. The letter ‘H’ is the eighth letter in the alphabet. 88 is code for “HH”, or in neo-Nazi speak “Heil Hitler”.
Considering Von Brunn’s background, this number probably held special significance for him. A twisted sort of golden birthday perhaps or an inside nod to the white nationalist movement he was active in for several years.
Von Brunn’s attack is another in a series of major planned or executed attacks by individuals involved with white nationalist groups since Obama’s presidential win became reality last Fall. Read more
Deal-cutting the 14th Amendment: At the Intersection of Racism and Immigration
Filed under: American Identity, Immigration, Politics
Nathan Deal
In a cynical move to build support for his campaign for the governorship of Georgia, U.S. Representative Nathan Deal has rekindled racist fervor to gut birthright citizenship and the 14th Amendment to the Constitution. By doing so he has once again –boldly and baldly—positioned himself at the intersection of racism and immigration.
HR1868, the “Birthright Citizenship Act of 2009,” would permit citizenship status to children birthed in the U.S. only if at least one parent is a citizen or legal permanent resident. Now co-sponsored by 73 Members of the U.S. House of Representatives—53 of whom are members of the FAIR-fueled anti-immigrant House Immigration Reform Caucus (HIRC)—the bill rekindles the fervor for dismantling a cornerstone of rights won by African Americans in the post-Civil War era. Read more
On the Continuing Significance of Race: People’s Exhibit #373
by Andrew Grant-Thomas
About six months ago I came across a study that found that people who are incarcerated, unemployed or poor are more likely to be seen as “black,” and to self-identify as “black,” regardless of past racial classification.
Correspondingly, they were less likely to be identified, and to self-identify, as “white.”
Stop. Wrap your mind around that for a moment.
The message here is not that black Americans are more likely to be poor, unemployed or incarcerated than other Americans, a statement that is undeniably true. The message is that poverty, unemployment and incarceration make you black. That’s the “social construction of race” with a vengeance. Read more
Is the Anti-Immigrant Movement the Enemy of Black America?
Regardless of what we think about the issue of immigration, as African Americans we should be united in our opposition to the contemporary anti-immigrant movement. It is a movement that continues to assault Black America by mainstreaming white supremacist leadership and attacking the 14th Amendment and black voting rights.
I’ve often argued within the Black community that there would still be an anti-immigrant movement even if there were not one single immigrant or refugee in the United States. The anti-immigrant movement is not interested in solutions to migration, rather it is more interested in dismantling civil rights, limiting citizenship, and redefining our national identity so that our society will benefit from an ideology called white nationalism. Read more
Memorial Day Is About Honoring the Righteous
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 dare take your credit card. I was on the hunt for a book on the Abolitionist Movement in the United States. I had been making the argument in presentations that those working both to secure immigrant rights in the United States and defeat the anti-immigrant movement were the descendants of the early Abolition Movement. Read more
10 Reasons Why Chuck Norris is Not My Hero:
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 creationism as intelligent design (gag), and has helped put creationism into the curriculum of 443 public school districts.
8. He invokes Thomas Jefferson’s name in supporting creationism in schools.
9. # 7 on his martial arts code of honor is “I will maintain an attitude of open-mindedness.”
10. He wrote a moronic letter to President Obama (in which he urged him to turn away from his pro-choice stance), entitled “Obama, now that you work for me …”
Just ten reasons why Chuck Norris is lame.
The Immigrant Woman Story
Women as immigrants are just beginning to be recognized, but that hasn’t lessened the dual hardships of womanhood and immigration. Whether it be through detention, poverty, domestic abuse, or discrimination; the challenges many American women face are compounded for immigrant women. A recent poll released by New America Media dives deep into the real lives and impact of immigrant women on this nation:
The story of migration, as it has traditionally been told, has been a masculine epic. But in the latter part of the 20th century, as women began immigrating to America in ever-growing numbers, the migration story became increasing a woman’s tale as well. Women are now on the move, as much as men. But their narrative is different from that of their male predecessors -– they are migrating not as lone individuals but as members, even heads, of families, determined to keep family bonds intact even as they travel great distances and adapt to new cultures.
Until the last half of the 20th century, there was a great gender imbalance, with males predominating in the migrant stream. Today, this balance has shifted to the point that women actually comprise half or more of the immigrants entering this country. Equally dramatic, women now make up more than half of the migrant population worldwide.
While immigrant women are more proactive about gaining citizenship and civic engagement in general, they are also more vulnerable to an immigration and detention system that leaves little room for humanity and is rife with abuse. Read more
New Study Finds Link Between Racism and Mental Health Problems
A recently published study in the May edition of the American Journal of Public Health, has found that children who are the victims of racism are more likely to develop mental health problems as adults. The study examined over 5000 5th graders from Birmingham, Alabama, Los Angeles, California, and Houston, Texas. The study found that 5th graders who are racially abused are highly likely to develop symptoms of depression.
The study does not provide a direct link between racism and emotional problems because the study did not follow the 5th graders over time, but the study’s co-authors are adamant that the link is no coincidence. Tumani Coker, a UCLA pediatrician and RAND Corp researcher, stated that this was the first study of its kind to ever be conducted. Her co-author, Mark Schuster, a Harvard pediatrician stated, “It’s possible that prejudice harms children’s mental health, but it is also possible that troubled kids prompt more discriminatory remarks from peers or that children with emotional problems perceive more bias.” Read more
Another Story from New Haven: Project Restart
By Andrew Grant-Thomas
Some readers will know about Ricci v. DeStefano, a case filed by white firefighters in New Haven, CT, my home town, after the City invalidated the results of a test that would have promoted 15 whites, one Latino and no African Americans. The US Supreme Court recently heard the case.
Last week I read a less-ballyhooed story out of New Haven about a program called Project Restart. The idea is that, rather than perpetuate the sweep-lockup-release cycle that ensnares so many petty drug offenders, the police instead would spend more time targeting high-level dealers while offering lower-level ones sentencing alternatives like school or job training.
The story focuses on Raheem Vaughn, a 19 year-old African American whose criminal record consists of a charge for possession of a mini-ziplock bag of marijuana and a bust for selling $50 worth of the stuff. That record, according to Assistant Police Chief Pete Reichard, leaves him too “hardened” to qualify for the sentencing alternatives.
Seriously? Read more
The Real Pandemic in America is Hate Crimes Targeting Blacks
Much has happened since federal hate crime legislation passed out of the U.S House of Representatives two weeks ago. Last week similar legislation, the Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act, was introduced on the floor of the U.S. Senate. The bi-partisan legislation, named after hate crime victim Matthew Shepard, would allow the U.S. government to prosecute hate crime violence within areas of federal jurisdiction.
Other things have happened as well. In Washington State, an African-American male was repeatedly hit in the head with a large rock and punched in the face. His crime? Having the nerve to be in the company of a woman who happened to be white. In Connecticut 64-year-old Lawrence Mammone Jr. fired his pistol into a group of black men. Read more
A Stunning Denial of Justice in Shenandoah
While the world was glued to flu coverage last week, justice crumbled in tiny Shenandoah, Pennsylvania. The tragedy began almost a year ago when Luis E. Ramirez was beaten to death by a group of white male teenagers. Reports of the attack describe it as racially-motivated and brutal. A report by CNN stated, “After a night of drinking, the teens taunted the undocumented worker with racial epithets, pummeled him to the ground and then kicked him in the head, court documents charge. He died in a hospital two days later.”
The trial for two of Ramirez’s attackers ended on Friday when Derrick Donchak, 19, and Brandon Piekarsky, 17, were acquitted of aggravated assault, reckless endangerment and ethnic intimidation. Attorneys for the two attackers argued that Ramirez was in fact the aggressor against the four intoxicated teens. Right. Anyway, the all-white jury seemed to find that pretty plausible and only found Donchak and Pierkarsky guilty of simple assault. Everything about this story, from the investigation to the trial, stinks of old-fashioned collusion, cover-up, and bigotry. Read more
Faces of May Day, Faces of America
Chicago May Day 2009
Faces of May Day, Faces of America from Imagine 2050 on Vimeo.
Racist Email Distorts Patriotism
Hilary Clinton spent three hours in Lebanon Sunday morning and passed along a message of support saying, “You have been through too much and it is only right that you are given a chance to make your own decisions”. Lebanon’s upcoming elections in June could see Hezbollah winning a larger slice of the political pie.
Just two generations removed from the immigrant’s story and still my stomach is tied up over Lebanon’s upcoming elections. I have never even set foot on its soil but I have spent countless summer evenings listening to my grandmother and aunts talk about their home and what it meant for them to leave. And what it means to look back. Read more
Torture Discourse Impacts National Character
Like a lot of people I’m worn out by the non-stop coverage of torture. After all who wants to hear more about Bush, Cheney and Abu Ghraib? Americans already divorced themselves from the horrification of war; our romanticized notion of a country defending democracy long ago turned to disgust and apathy. The real war infected us, became chronic and painful, so we amputated ourselves from it. Many are wondering, why talk now about something we’ve managed to ignore for so long? Read more
Echoes Of A Dark Past
For a long time now I have been living with feelings of alienation from the culture of my youth, as well as the pain that comes with the feelings of non-belonging. I was a product of a mixed marriage, a type of institution hailed as the perfect model of nation-building in Tito’s Socialist Yugoslavia. Growing up in the fifties, my parents believed in the message of “Brotherhood and Unity.” Not unlike many Sarajevans of their generation, they denounced the practices of segregation based on one’s religious background. While there has always been a rich tradition of co-existence in Bosnia, most people chose to preserve the homogenous nature of their family ties through marriage. The horrific fratricide during the Second World War stunned an entire generation of Yugoslavs away from ethnic animosities.
This is not to say that my parents’ marriage was a form of political activism. I still prefer to believe that there was some love involved in their initial union. However, the political and social environment they grew up in allowed for opportunities and gave social acceptance to the mixing of religions. So my father’s Orthodox Christian background joined my mother’s Catholic/atheist heritage (my grandfather was a Communist.) In Yugoslavia there was always confusion between religion and nationality, but my parents always insisted on making a distinction between their religion and their nationality since, after all, they lived in a multiethnic society. They asserted that it was their full right to declare themselves as Bosnians. Read more
Gun Violence and American Identity
Fifty-three people are dead in 25 days of mass shootings in the U.S, from March 1 through April 5.
While reasons for the shootings are and will be argued endlessly by the commentariat, the Binghamton, New York massacre at the American Civic Association goes to the heart of the American gun culture that fed and led even a struggling, gun-licensed immigrant to rectify his grievances via mass murder. The levels of tragic irony in the Binghamton shootings are virtually incomprehensible. Among Jiverly Wong’s victims was Layla Khalil, who had survived three bombings in her native, war-torn Iraq. Other victims were from China, Vietnam, the Philippines, Haiti, and Pakistan, living and working their way into the proverbial American dream. Instead, they died in the violent nightmare of American identity.
Jiverly Wong was an American citizen who had apparently been in the country long enough to learn that at the heart of the nation’s identity is its gun culture and an incipient inclination to settle wrongs, slights, grievances, and territories with deadly force. From the founding to the frontier to the future, American identity is wrapped up in gun violence, shrouded in the endlessly argued Second Amendment, and defended to the death by true believers, fearful and fearsome in their zealotry. Read more
Blog Highlight: ‘Is Oakland somewhere near Missouri? Watching Glenn Beck, it’s hard to tell’
Check out David Neiwert’s recent blog about right-winged extremism and Glenn Beck’s denial that these militias are a threat. Good reading.
Glenn Beck spent a little while on his Fox News show yesterday explaining to his audience that law enforcement in Missouri shouldn’t be concerned about right-wing extremists because the real problem is cop-killing parolees on the loose in Oakland, California.
Or something like that. It was hard to piece the argument together, but the nub of it seemed along those lines. First he went on at length about how the weekend’s horrible shootout in Oakland, which left four police officers dead alongside the shooter/parolee, was another sign of things going to hell in California. OK, whatever. But then he makes the big leap:
Beck: Next, look at the government’s priorities. This is an actual cop killer, who clearly wasn’t rehabilitated. But the Missouri State Troopers now — and wait until you hear the rest of the story, the update on this one coming up in a few minutes — they’re worried about militias.Beck then goes on to mostly regurgitate last week’s rant about a Missouri State Patrol intelligence report discussing the recent resurgence of militia activity in their neck of the woods specifically and in the country generally.
But as we reported then, the report (you can read it for yourself here) is in fact entirely factual, and simply a normative report giving an accurate profile of right-wing extremists’ behavioral tendencies.
Read more at http://dneiwert.blogspot.com/ Read more
Audio: March 2009 Blogcast
Hello Imagine 2050 Listeners! My sincere apologies for the delay in getting new audio out to y’all…times are tough. But here is our first installment for 2009! As you have most likely read on the blog, there has been some heavy anti-immigrant activity in Arizona lately. So, in this edition of the Imagine 2050 podcast we visit with some local Arizonians and get their thoughts on people like Sheriff Joe Arpaio. We also get some idea of the complexity of American identity through our visit with a couple of indigenous Americans whose people (the Tohono O’odham) have been in the area we call Arizona far longer than any European immigrants.
But don’t just take my word for it…
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