The supposed Toledo race riot was pretty heinous. But check this out. Actual headline:

White Supremacists Riot in Toledo, Ohio

But what really happened:

Protesters at a white supremacists’ march threw rocks at police, vandalized vehicles and stores and cursed the mayor for allowing the event.

Mayor Jack Ford said when he and a local minister tried to calm the rioters Saturday, they were cursed and a masked gang member threatened to shoot him. At one point, the crowd reached 600 people, officials said.

[snip]

Ford blamed the rioting on gangs taking advantage of a volatile situation. He declared a state of emergency, set an 8 p.m. curfew through the weekend and asked the Highway Patrol for help.

Doesn’t sound to me like the white supremacists were the ones rioting. It seems the white supremacists got what they wanted. Malkin has a round up.

Bill Bennett said:

But I do know that it’s true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could—if that were your sole purpose, you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down. That would be an impossible, ridiculous, and morally reprehensible thing to do, but your crime rate would go down.

Think about it for a moment . . . time’s up. While this statement is offensive and, honestly, stupid to make, it’s factual. Of course, you could also say the same thing and substitute the word Southern for black. Or male for black. Or poor for black. Bennett was not advocating doing such a thing.

Bob Krumm, in a must read, says:

Instead of being shocked that he said it, we should be shocked that it’s true.

If I say, more black people suffer from sickle cell anemia, would the response be that I am racist or that maybe we ought to look into why this disease is found almost exclusively in blacks? I’d hope the latter. And, no, I’m not calling crime a disease nor am I saying that there’s some sort of genetic predisposition to criminal behavior inherent in black folks. I’m saying that if something affects people of a particular race, maybe society should be serious about addressing it and not automatically offended when someone mentions it. Bennett chose a rather poor and offensive way of expressing his point.

Meanwhile, Stacey Campfield, noting that the Black Legislative Caucus restricted members based on race, said:

My understanding is that the KKK doesn’t even ban members by race

I don’t know anything about the KKK or its rules. For the sake of argument, let’s assume it is a true and factual statement. Is it racist? I tend to think it’s not. Sure, no one likes to be compared to the KKK but it is not an inherently racist statement. And it may even be true.

Stacey Campfield addresses the black caucus issue at his blog.

Local Rep. Stacey Campfield, who blogs here and is white, may want to become a member of the Tennessee Legislature’s Black Caucus:

The chairman of the state Legislature’s Black Caucus has questioned the motives of a white Knoxville lawmaker who asked to become a member of the group and sought a copy of its bylaws.
Black Caucus Chairman Rep. Johnny Shaw, D-Jackson, denied both requests from Rep. Stacey Campfield, R-Knoxville, according to separate interviews with the two men.

They differed on some details of their conversation, which for now has ended in something of a stalemate. Campfield said he might take further steps in the next legislative session.

“I think he just wanted to mess with somebody,” said Shaw. “Stacey Campfield is a strange guy. That’s the best I can say. He would never say why he wanted the bylaws or what he was trying to do.”

Campfield said he was “just curious” about operations of the Black Caucus and decided to ask Shaw for a copy of the bylaws. He said Shaw at one point asked for a copy of Republican Party bylaws and Campfield had a copy of the GOP document sent to Shaw.

“I have my questions” about the Black Caucus, Campfield said. “How is their money spent? What are membership requirements? A lot of things are contained in the bylaws. I haven’t decided how far to push it.”

In the course of their conversation, the possibility of Campfield becoming a Black Caucus member came up.

By Campfield’s account, Shaw replied in a staunch negative.

I think it’s hysterical. It’s also amusing to watch Campfield repeatedly poke the establishment with a stick. Now, who said this:

“We still want to make sure the black community gets the representation it needs,” he said. “But it’s not just the black community. We represent people as a whole. When you start dividing people up into race, if you’re not careful you can get yourself into a lot of trouble.

Not Campfield but Shaw. Maybe they do get Campfield’s point.

You remember that time (I think it was in Georgia) where some politico used the word niggardly to describe a budget and some folks were offended that a politico used a racial term (even though the correct term would have been racist)? And then that time where people thought that Bush was delaying the response to Katrina because Bush wanted to kill black people? Remember how fucking stupid that was? I mean, if you’re going to hurl accusations of racism, you should probably know what you’re talking about*.

Well, via Kevin, it has happened again:

The associate vice president of student services at Greenville Technical College referred to New Orleans evacuees in Greenville as “yard apes” in a staff meeting last week, said school President Tom Barton on Tuesday.

The college will decide by noon today what action it can take, Barton said. At least one local minority leader said she should be fired.

[snip]

“We’re going to rectify the situation and make it very much known that we won’t ever tolerate that kind of situation — ever,” Barton said, describing his reaction as “shocked” that someone with years at the school could make such an “asinine” statement.

The problem with this situation is that it assumes that all evacuees are black (the majority probably are). And that a ‘yard ape’ is a derogatory term for black folks. Yard ape is, actually, a derogatory term for children. This person called evacuees children. Yard ape is also a character in a children’s book. Nothing to see here, keep moving.

Update: *Speaking of knowing what you’re talking about, I did some more Googling and found a racist terms glossary (seriously, some one maintains one). So, maybe there’s something to it. I have never heard it used that way and have always heard it in reference to children. So, like the Confederate Flag, I guess it can be racist depending on the usage.

Regarding the looting, some folks have the right idea:

Employees at A.J.’s Produce Co. on Chartres Street in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans, spray-painted bright-red stern warnings for would-be thieves right on the sides of the building.

“You loot, we shoot!” they read. “Looters will be shot!” And “loot and die!”

“We had a few come around, but the boogie man scared them away,” said 59-year-old John Allen, who sat in a lawn chair guarding the building about 10 a.m. Tuesday. “The signs did the job.”

Via Joe.

Update: Oh dear. Katie notes that in the press coverage, black folks are looting while white folks are finding things. (update to the update: as Xrlq points out in comments, Yahoo! News used two different news agencies. Nothing to see here, keep moving.) Update to the update to the update: Xrlq blogs about it:

the stories were written by two different news agencies, with different reporting policies, and those big racist meanies at Yahoo! had the gall to carry both companies’ feeds.

To which Allah points out (in Xrlq’s comments) this. Something to it after all, I guess.

Update 2: Et tu, officer friendly.

Update 3: While authorities shift resources to search and rescue (which they should do!), the looting continues. Looters are taking guns:

New Orleans’ homeland security chief, Terry Ebbert, said looters were breaking into stores all over town and stealing guns. He said there are gangs of armed men moving around the city. At one point, officers stranded on the roof of a hotel were fired at by criminals on the street.

The Times-Picayune newspaper reported that the gun section at a new Wal-Mart had been cleaned out by looters.

So, for all you anti-gunnies out there: what do you do when the system breaks down, there is neither law nor order, and your protection is up to you?

The local high school has banned the Confederate Flag at events. Thank goodness, that will surely solve all the racial tensions at the locals schools.

It’s me, Half-Bakered (Mike Hollihan), guest blogging for Uncle while he vacates himself to more relaxing places. Thanks to Unc for welcoming me back.

The new movie Hustle & Flow, made by local-boy-made-good Craig Brewer, has drawn a lot of debate in Memphis for its depiction of the underside of the city. Many civic and political elites think it presents a “negative” image of the City of Good Commodes Abode. What it really is, is an honest and heartfelt view of the life of our underclass.

I’ve been blogging about my experiences living in and around that underclass for a while now. I’ll leave you with some chronological links to peruse:

It Happened on Monroe Stree — the post that started it all.

The Follow-up Post

An Update

Neighborhood Strangeness

An Impassioned Rant with Lots of Details

More, About my Neighbors

The Local Paper’s Editor in Chief Doesn’t Get It

I hope to do a review of Hustle & Flow later today.

Looks like the schools of my hometown are one step closer to banning the Confederate flag at the school and its sporting events.

In my hometown, there has been much discussion about the local high school banning the Confederate Flag at events. Actually, they’ve banned all flags and symbols. The Confederate flag has been a tradition for a while since they’re known as the Rebels. I’ve heard they got the name Rebels because there was a time when football wasn’t allowed and they kept the team anyway.

Tonight at the school board meeting, they’ll discuss the ban. Apparently a large group of folks plan on being there to tell the school board exactly how stupid this is.

Heading into the office this morning, I saw a news crew on the side of the road and glanced. They were interviewing an elderly black fellow who was carrying a large Confederate Flag (which means he’s racist).

I think it was that local black Confederate guy.

Update: Bubba grabbed a picture. And links to background info.

For Kevin:

Of course, the obvious is that current Senator Robert Byrd was a Kleagle in the KKK. Not just a member, he was management.

Dick Gephardt sought endorsement from white rights groups.

Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, formerly of Pensacola, said the law will “lead to open war on black males.”

And the opening salvo of this speaks for itself.

See how easy that is? 10 whole minutes of Googling. Yet, it doesn’t prove that there’s any sort of institutionalized racism in the Democrat party just that there are instances of it.

I commented that the senate measure to apologize for the Democrats filibustering laws to make lynching a federal crime 100 or so years ago was nothing but a Dog and Pony show (none of the current congress monkeys were around then and this measure will bring no one back). And I stand by that. It’s a pointless resolution designed to garner some publicity. Though it passed unanimously, my understanding is that only six senators were present and there was a voice vote.

Now, the partisans with Ds after their names are equating non-sponsorship of the measure as racist. They are even stating that if you didn’t sponsor this bill, then you are pro-lynching. That is probably the stupidest thing I have ever heard. I share the Commissar’s position. This is nothing more than hateful propaganda. It is vile and disgusting. Now, I expect hacks like Kos and Atrios to engage in such vile, hateful rhetoric. Since they don’t have a branch of government, rhetoric’s all they got. However, when people whose opinions I typically respect play into the asinine propaganda that non-sponsorship equals pro-lynching, it makes me sad.

Thoughts of an Average Woman maintains a list of bigots and attempts to chide Alexander into supporting it. While I support efforts to get senators to act on the will of the people, calling him a bigot is shameful and despicable. Meanwhile, Lamar responds:

There is no resolution of apology that we can pass today (Monday) that will teach one more child to read, prevent one more case of AIDS or stop one more violent crime

I also tend to share La Shawn Barber’s view:

In light of the serious problems we face in the world and our own country, I think this apology is one of the dumbest, emptiest, most politically correct pile of rubbish I’ve heard about in a long time.

We’ve got fanatics trying to kill us all in the name of their god and hiding among us. We’re being taxed to death taking care of deadbeats and criminals, while President Bush is sending even more of our money to brutal dictators in Africa. And the Senate apologizes for failing to pass anti-lynching laws 100 years ago?

Kevin pushes the lynch mob meme too by listing them. He also points out the original sponsor was trying to get away from his racially insensitive past.

If the senate wants to apologize for this crap, that’s what press releases are for. Or each individual senator can go on TeeVee and make an announcement. Trotting out the dogs and ponies is a waste of time.

Update: And I should point out that the senate leader killing a roll call vote is equally asinine. Senators should place their names on what they vote for. Accountability is such a novel idea in government.

I seem to have lost my dog and pony. See, they do this little show. Can you help me find them?

Nevermind, there they are.

The local Board of Education has banned the Confederate flag at events:

The Rebel flag will no longer be allowed at any Maryville school system events.

The Maryville Board of Education voted on first reading to ban flags, noisemakers, sirens, whistles, laser-pointers and hand-held signs Monday night during its monthly meeting.

“This would prohibit bringing in any kind of flags,” Director of Schools Mike Dalton said.

The exemption to this policy will be equipment, approved by the principal and Dalton, used by groups such as cheerleaders and the flag team.

The no-flag policy eliminates the use of a symbol long associated with the school system but one that has caused growing concern over the years.

The local high school is known as The Rebels. I wonder if they’ll change the name. This comes in light of recent race related crimes in our area, some of which occurred at schools. This policy seems a bit overreaching though:

The event safety policy also prohibits any action “associated with oppression, hate, or anything else that may cause other students, parents, visitors, constituents, school district employees, spectators, or any other individuals to feel uncomfortable based on race, color, creed, gender, ethnic origin, sexual orientation, religious belief/non-belief… This includes verbal, non-verbal, and physical acts.”

From Ravenwood in reference to Florida’s recent change in self defense law (note: the new Florida law puts them in line with the majority of states in the country):

Chicago Alderman Dorothy Tillman, formerly of Pensacola, said the law will “lead to open war on black males.”

“It’s almost a way to eliminate people. Black men will be under the ground more than ever.”

Sounds to me like Dorothy is making some racist statements. Where’s the outrage?

Dorothy has a history of doing stupid stuff.

Long-time followers of Tennessee politics are familair with Democrat John Jay Hooker. He could be favorably called a maverick and a lone voice, or he could be unfavorably fitted with the British label, “loon.” His most recent foray was to run as the no-hoper Democratic gubernatorial candidate against Don Sunquist. His party gave up and no one wanted to have a losing campaign to their name, so Hooker stepped up with a self-finanaced run. The media indulged him; no one criticised the Democrats for their bizarre abandonment.

These days, he’s a blogger. He only discovered blogging a month or so ago, but has embraced it whole-heartedly. At an age when most men look back, Hooker continues to forge ahead. For that, he must be respected. As a life-long, veteran Democratic activist and candidate, his views must also be paid heed.

Hooker has sent a editorial letter to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Whether they print it or not, it’s important to read. My suspicion is the CA won’t print it, at least not as a stand-alone guest column, since he’s telling the paper’s favorite political son to step aside.

And what I’m afraid of is that many of the democrats who may be unwilling to vote for Senator Ford will make it impossible for him to win. I think the 2006 election is going to be difficult at best, as Governor Bredesen is now burdened with the TennCare problems. And therefore, I think the Democrats are going to have their hands full in re-electing Governor Bredesen, and consequently, that a losing Democratic effort in the senatorial race could be very detrimental to Governor Bredesen’s re-election.

On the other hand, if young Harold, who is thirty-six years old, will keep his safe seat in Congress while he weathers the storm regarding his uncle, then I suspect the day will come when he has an opportunity to either run for the United States Senate, or run for governor, or maybe, just maybe, God being willing – PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES.

I believe this is the first serious Democratic voice to call on Ford to stand down.

The Tennessean reports that:

Tennessee Highway Patrol troopers would collect racial data about the motorists they stop under a bill approved by the legislature yesterday aimed at monitoring whether officers unfairly target minority drivers.

The ”racial profiling” bill is headed for the governor’s desk after passing the state House on a 64-29 vote, with two lawmakers not voting. It cleared the Senate with a single dissenting vote April 28.

The purpose is to determine if minorities are targeted more often. I wonder if this will lead to fewer people being pulled over because of their race even though they should be pulled over?

Bridget O’Neill, who was essentially suspended for talking to press, got to tell her side of the story to school officials. Good. The principal needs to be disciplined for this.

She has been been allowed by administrators to return to classes:

The decision to allow her return came Thursday in a disciplinary hearing. The suspension lasted for nine days. O’Neill says she’s extremely behind in her school work but she’ll be allowed to make it up.

O’Neill and her parents say school administrators told them that faculty and staff members had to deal with several concerned parents after her interview aired on 6 News. They were told the time spent talking with those parents disrupted classes.

Faculty and staff are full of crap.

A girl at William Blount High School was suspended for telling local TeeVee that the race issues at the high school have continued:

On April 18th, Bridget O’Neill, a junior, told 6 News one of her classmates made a racial sign.

Her parents say the next morning, the principal pulled Bridget into the office demanding to know why she talked to the media and who made the sign.

“She was screaming at her she was stupid,” says Bridget’s mother, Diane O’Neill. “They threatened to expel her for the rest of the year because she wouldn’t give the name. Then she threatened to call the police. And she was like, ‘why?’ She said, ‘Well, I’m going to have you arrested for standing in the way of justice.’”

The school sent home a letter about Bridget’s suspension. It never mentioned her interview with 6 News but said she was suspended for disrupting the classroom and providing false information about the sign.

Lawmakers in Georgia and Indiana walked out to protest a racist bill. This particular racist bill was one that would require someone show photo ID at the polls. This hysteria involved references to Jim Crow so I assume they’re saying it’s racist. They don’t say the law is racist, of course, but that it is not friendly to the homeless.

How is showing an ID racist? As Spoons says:

More Americans need to wake up to this. There are some lawmakers who believe it’s practically their constitutional right to rig elections, and are so terrified of anything that makes it harder for them to rack up phony votes, that they’ll go on strike to prevent it.

Honestly, I can think of no good reason not to require a photo ID to vote.

Mike, in a read guaranteed to offend somebody, tells the Democrats that they can woo the South in the same way they’ve sewn up another demographic.

First, we have Uncle Tom. Then Likudnik. Now, Aunt Jemima.

Update: Hitler is always a good one too. As is lying about Hussein comparisons.

WATE:

Cracker Barrel says it’s settled all lawsuits claiming racial discrimination.

Company president and CEO Donald Turner says the Lebanon-based restaurant company is “very pleased” with the settlement.

This is no longer possibly the most asinine thing I’ve seen in a while, this is:

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Republican congressional candidate James L. Hart acknowledges that he is an “intellectual outlaw.”

He is an unapologetic supporter of eugenics, the phony science that resulted in thousands of sterilizations in an attempt to purify the white race. He believes the country will look “like one big Detroit” if it doesn’t eliminate welfare and immigration. He believes that if blacks were integrated centuries ago, the automobile never would have been invented.

Wow! Just wow. Just a note: eugenics may be morally bankrupt, evil, and leave a foul taste in your mouth, but it is not a phony science. It is, as the term’s creator Francis Galton says, a moral philosophy to improve humanity. That doesn’t make it any less crap but I doubt anyone would consider it a science. More:

Much of Hart’s platform revolves around eugenics, which arose in the early 20th century as a pseudoscientific movement to solve social problems by preventing the “unfit” from having children. It inspired 33 states to pass laws that allowed the sterilization of some 65,000 people, and Nazi Germany used the U.S. examples to justify programs that sterilized and killed millions.

Hart, a 60-year-old real estate agent, knows his views on eugenics are far from the mainstream and viewed as racist by most people.

He insists his beliefs have nothing to do with racism and everything to do with “favored races” from Europe and Asia and “less-favored races” from Africa. To achieve his goal of a country populated by “favored races,” Hart proposes eliminating both welfare and immigration.

What an idiot. I am almost speechless. But Hart isn’t. He has a website too.

So, it looks like two candidates have stepped up to the plate to challenge Obama. What’s important is their positions on issues, right? Wrong. What’s important to the AP is that they are both black.

The AP mentions their stances on issues at the bottom thusly:

Keyes opposes abortion and gay rights, wants to replace the income tax with a national sales tax, and calls affirmative action a “government patronage program.” Barthwell, a medical doctor, has a history of supporting Democratic politicians and has publicly opposed marijuana for medical uses in her role as deputy drug czar, but her positions on other key issues are largely unknown.

Shouldn’t you figure out what her positions on other key issues are?

Via Jay comes what is possibly the most asinine thing I’ve seen in a while. What an idiot.

Update: Oh, dear lord. There are a great many more idiots. If your moonbat quotient is already high, don’t look any further:

Holy Mother of All that is Stupid – I think that would make a fine title for that blog.

Comparing gun owners to Nazis and Klansmen? Godwin’s law meet dumb ass, dumb ass meet Godwin’s law.

Lastly, this genius writes:

I think Glenn Reynolds is either the most clueless law professor at the University of Tennessee or the kind of sick racist who doesn’t have the balls to wear a Klan robe or burn a cross. There are thousands of gun shirts. You want to walk around with an MP-5K shirt, you can find one. AK-47, no problem. But that noxious shirt is one no decent person would wear, because there is no joke in it. A number of handguns and “celebrate diversity” on it implies something pretty dark and evil. Especially with the colors used on the white shirt, red, yellow and green. You would have to be a moron not to see the pan-African connotation with. I mean, you have easily made that shirt with the tag line “variety is the spice of life”, the joke made, and not even the most hypersensitive liberal could say a word. Reynolds even jokes about wearing it to a faculty meeting, something he doesn’t have the balls to do because he would be called on it.

That shirt is the kind of thing you see at Klan and militia rallies. It isn’t about political correctness either, because it implies the only kind of diveristy is a heavily armed one which is clearly anti-black in tenor and temperment. (sic)

No Steve, the only moron here is you. Lighten up.

And that is the last time I ever read Atrios. I feel so dirty having been exposed to such idiocy.

If you think that being alert to suspicious behavior by someone on a plane is a good move, then you are very clearly racist. That’s fairly lame. I think the behavior warranted suspicion and I would have become quite alert. In fact, I’d draw attention of it to other passengers in the event it warranted intervention. And I’d tell them to knock it off.

Not worrying about it may lead to some sort of feeling of moral superiority but refusing to become alert to the situation doesn’t make you a racist, it makes you smart.

All felons are black? Me neither.

Lame.

The article he linked brings up a question I often ponder:

When it comes to rights, we restrict certain rights if someone commits a crime. For example, the state revokes their right to arms (do we want criminals packing heat?) and (in some cases) their right to vote. Exactly what criteria are involved in deciding which rights to restrict? Do we want convicted felons assembling peaceably or free from unwarranted searches?

The knee jerk libertarian in me thinks that, since the Bill of Rights doesn’t grant rights but limits governmental infringement of rights, it’s a no-no! But if I concede I don’t want criminals packing heat (after all, who wants that?) then should I concede that they also shouldn’t have a right to freedom from self incrimination?

Thoughts? Or am I a space cadet on this one?

After receiving some grief for this post, I now point you to Exhibit A in what I mean:

Jesse Jackson accused the Republican Party, conservatives and the retailer Wal-Mart of attempting to “push the ideology of the Confederacy” in America.

Jackson made the comments in several speeches he delivered during his 33rd annual Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference in Chicago.

“The ideological right in control of our nation knows what it wants,” Jackson said. “The right wing fights for a series of constitutional amendments. They intend to have their ideology protected by law. They intend to push the ideology of the Confederacy and continue to challenge the vision of the Union,” Jackson told conference delegates on Monday.

“In this competing vision of America, we choose the Union over the Confederacy. We chose a simple but comprehensive plan to make America a more perfect union,” Jackson added.

On Tuesday, Jackson applied the Confederate label to the Bush administration’s economic policies and to the retail giant Wal-Mart.

While a prominent black leader engages in useless rhetoric, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty. The focus by Jackson is on what keeps black folks down, never what can lift them up.

It could be worse, she could have just called them house niggers:

Right Wingers will suggest substituting Jesse Lee Peterson, Larry Elder, Clarence Thomas or some other contemporary handkerchief head for Rev. Jackson. Then, it is time for me to say, ‘Gotcha!’ Right Wing African-American ‘leaders’ owe whatever status they have to the white Right. (There really isn’t a colored one.) They are groomed by it, popularized by it and paid by it. Their only connection to other blacks is the one they are being used for — appearance.

Because, after all, none of them worked to get where they are. So, they must be right wing shills. And, of course, it’s impossible that a black person may identify with the right. They’re all just tokens. Unless they’re on the left, they haven’t worked for it. After all, there are no rich white guys on the left to oppress these black upstarts and pay them off.

As for Jackson and his respect, he’ll get it when he seriously places race relations upon a higher pedestal than his own benefit.

While we engage in rhetoric on why blacks should never identify with the right wing, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

Via Ricky.

Update: P6 did not write what I quoted, this person did. I couldn’t tell as the quote was not blocked, italicized or otherwise made to appear to be a quote. I guess maybe the “…” could have clued me in.

Over at this No Quarters post, the Heartless Libertarian says in this comment:

The GOP generally treats gunowners the same way the Democrats treat blacks. Throw us a few bones, tell us that the other side is super-evil and hates us, ignore us the rest of the time, and take our votes for granted.

It’s times like this when the credibility of black leaders really suffers:

In remarks to hundreds of cheering liberal activists Wednesday, NAACP Chairman Julian Bond singled out Republicans as enemies of black Americans and compared conservatives to the terrorist Taliban who once ruled Afghanistan.

“Their idea of equal rights is the American flag and the Confederate swastika flying side by side,” Bond told a cheering audience. “They’ve written a new constitution for Iraq and ignore the Constitution here at home. They draw their most rabid supporters from the Taliban wing of American politics. Now they want to write bigotry back into the Constitution.”

By evoking Godwin’s Law, I declare Mr. Bond officially irrelevant to the state of race relations in this country. While Julian Bond engages in meaningless, rhetorical attacks on evil Republicans, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

So, how long before Jesse Jackson comes out and criticizes Bush for marking Brown vs. Board of Education?

This is why we need Black Bush 2004: Mars, bitches!

The NAACP is upset because a school paper, The Gateway, conducted an April Fool’s gag by naming the paper The Ghettoway. April does bring out the fools. Who’s the racist here?

While black leaders address this critical issue in race relations, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

If you use a non-Arab actor to portray a terrorist in a campaign ad, in lefty fantasy land that means Bush Introduces Racism to Campaign 2004. Seems to me that maybe those who assumed he was an Arab have an issue.

It’s racist to use a non-Arab who may or may not resemble an Arab (from the snippets of the ad I saw, I could only make out eyes and hair, not enough to conclude race at all).

This represents the tone of the coming campaign.

Via Jeff, I found that a post is pissing people off. Jeff sums up one issue nicely:

… [Rob] drops eight gratuitous n-bombs, recycles every racist stereotype in the book, and then tosses in a few legitimate statistics just to make the rest of us look like racists by association, should we ever quote them in the future.

This has spread through the blogosphere quickly.

Using the N-Word results in delinking and racist allegations. However, calling a demographic Government Tit-sucking Crackerfolk is Ok!

Sadly, the only redeeming portion of Rob’s point (i.e., where are the black leaders? – a question I have asked many times) is overshadowed by his choice of words and his racist rant.

And to be clear, I am not condoning the rant. I thought it was pretty hateful.

I got a calendar that lists dumb things people have said. Today’s is a beauty:

My colleagues and I are upset by this blatant attempt to replace diversity with fairness.

NJ State Assemblymen Joseph Doria – D on a bill repealing racial and gender preferences. Little Freudian slip.

A group is criticizing Gibson’s The Passion because Jesus is portrayed by a white man. The group (The New Black Panther Party, which can only lead to its credibility) states that Jesus was black.

Well, that whole thing occurred somewhere around northern Africa/the middle east if I recall. I’d say Jesus was more olive skinned. And I saw this thing on Discovery Channel once that tried to piece together what Jesus would have looked like. They concluded he’d be olive skinned, have a large-nose, low brow and have short, dark curly hair.

I do tend to doubt that he looked like Chris Cornell.

Update: It occurs to me that I should now time it to see how long before this post offends someone and I get hate mail or nastygrams: You hear that, Ethyl? He thinks Jesus was an A-rab.

You’ll find this guy:

Aryanfest’s gates opened at noon, and about an hour later, the gathering assemblage gradually hushed as all eyes turned upon the young man who had just paid his entrance fee and was casually perusing the hate-rock compact discs, swastika flags and white power watch caps at Panzerfaust Records’ merchandise booth.

He was in his late teens or early 20s, had a shaved head and sported Nazi and white power tattoos on both arms, in addition to wearing the white tee shirt with bold, black script.

He would have fit in just fine, except for one thing: He wasn’t white. Not even close. There was at least half a cup of Kahlúa in his cream.

Beautiful! Hats off to you, sir!

Quote:

I just wanted to come out and show my respect for the white race and support the cause.

Via Kevin.

Ron says that Kerry doesn’t get it, after all he’s making an issue of Bush’s Nascar appearance.

You see, Ron, appealing to Nascar dads is Democrat codespeak for appealing to racism. Heck, if the Republicans supposedly have a Southern Strategy, it makes since that the Democrats do to.

Heh! See how dumb that sounds.

To protest affirmative action, someone created a scholarship for whites only. The United Honkey College Fund could not be reached for comment.

More anthropomorphizing: I suppose racism was next since dogs can also be gay. A K9 (not a unit, the actual dog) is under investigation for being a racist dog. Apparently, the dog has attacked two black kids in the last 19 months.

An account of one bite:

The dog bolted from the K-9 wagon when the door opened and bit a 9-year-old boy who was playing nearby.

[Insert smarmy remark about how it's a good thing this isn't a pit bull]

I have had an experience such as this with my dogs. Sadly, I have very few black friends. It’s not on purpose. The result is that my dogs have little exposure to black people.

Politically Correct Dog was walking with the Mrs. one day (I wasn’t there) and a black guy was walking the other direction and PCD raised his hackles and started barking. Even after the Mrs. informed PCD that everything is OK, he persisted with barking. Also, one day Politically Incorrect Dog barked at a black man who was passing by. However, once he was told everything was OK, he calmed right down.

I honestly don’t know why my dogs (who ordinarily wag their tails when they see strangers) would react this way to black people. I assume it’s because they are not used to seeing a person with darker skin since my dogs react favorably to light skinned people (even my Japanese neighbors). I don’t think dogs are capable of racism and think the investigation is crap. This dog is just poorly trained and my dogs haven’t had exposure to darker skinned people. I do find it odd though.

Jay tells us another reason why Democrats shouldn’t be the party of minorities.

I caught (thanks to TiVo) and episode of Comedy Central’s Tough Crowd with Collin Quinn. The gist of the show is that Collin (who seems to be a libertarian-conservative mix) has guests from differing sides of the political spectrum and they debate social and political issues. Oh and his guests are comedians. It’s fairly funny.

In Collin’s opening monologue he talked about a group of black guys who beat up some white guy. The white guy later died. He then said something like Surely something that important would be in the paper, right. It’s not biased or anything. He then picked up popular papers from a stack and noted that it wasn’t covered.

Anyone know anything about this story?

BET released a list of the most segregated cities in America:

10. Philadelphia
9. Chicago
8. New York City
7. Buffalo-Niagra Falls, N.Y. (sic)
6. Cincinnati
5. Newark, N.J.
4. St. Louis
3. Cleveland-Lorain-Elyria, Ohio
2. Detroit
1. Milwaukee-Waukesha, Wis.

Not a lot of southern cities on that list. Seems to support my conclusion here.

Via A Little More to the Right.

WATE:

The Rev. Tim McDonald of Concerned Black Clergy said, “For him to have entered the war in the manner in which he did and now to come to lay a wreath for Doctor King is the epitome of hypocrisy.”

Concerned Black Clergy is planning a protest with other local groups during Bush’s visit Thursday afternoon.

McDonald said the president’s appearance shows “that he wants black votes, that he wants to give the appearance that he’s not a racist, that he’s not a war hawk, but we can see through that veil.”

He’s calling the president a racist? Powell and Rice may disagree. And exactly how do we get from entering war to being a racist?

Since Sharpton is irrelevant, he recently relied on the one thing guaranteed to get him attention: Race Bating:

Howard Dean, a former governor of mostly white Vermont, was put on the defensive on his record on race in the last debate before Democratic presidential campaign voting kicks off in a week.
Civil rights activist Al Sharpton forced Dean to acknowledge Sunday that no blacks or Hispanics served in his cabinet during 12 years as governor.

“While I respect the fact you brought race into this campaign, you ought to talk freely and openly about whether you went out of the box to try to do something about race in your home state and have experience with working with blacks and browns at peer level, not as just friends you might have had in college,” Sharpton said.

Dean responded, “I will take a back seat to no one in my commitment to civil rights in the United States of America.”

If Sharpton is dissatisfied with his press, someone’s got to be a racist. While we ponder the important issue of how many minorities Dean had on staff, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

I lived for a while in Hell err New Jersey (which is why I refer to it as Hell err New Jersey) but I am from Tennessee. A coworker of mine is from New York and now lives in Tennessee. She’s going through that transplanted yankee thing even after ten years of living here. I tried to tell her that no matter how hard she tried or how long she lived here, she’d always be a transplanted yankee.

We were talking about stuff and somehow got on the subject of racism and geographical region. This is all anecdotal, of course, but I don’t care. We both (based on our experiences living in the north east and the south east) concluded the same thing. In the north, we both observed more racism. And by more, we both meant that we met more individuals who were racist. In the south, while we met fewer racists, the racists we did meet were more racist than the racists in the north, i.e., in the north, people seemed annoyed by people of other races and had names for them but southern racists wanted to hurt people.

We felt as though in the north racism was kept more of a secret attributable to lots of people. And in the south, it’s no secret (heck, we still read about the occasional cross burning here) but there’s less of it.

I found it interesting and thought I’d share it.

Does a true American hero (and arguably the most important person in the civil rights movement) really want to tarnish her good name?

The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way on Monday for civil rights icon Rosa Parks to proceed with her lawsuit against OutKast and others over the rap music duo’s hit song with her name as its title.

The justices let stand a U.S. appeals court ruling that reinstated Parks’ false advertising and publicity claims against OutKast and three Bertelsmann AG units — LaFace Records, the record producer, and Arista Records and BMG Entertainment, the distributors.

It’d be a pity if this was the last thing she was in the news for.

PC gone too far:

Los Angeles officials have asked that manufacturers, suppliers and contractors stop using the terms “master” and “slave” on computer equipment, saying such terms are unacceptable and offensive.

The request — which has some suppliers furious and others busy re-labeling components — came after an unidentified worker spotted a videotape machine carrying devices labeled “master” and “slave” and filed a discrimination complaint with the county’s Office of Affirmative Action Compliance.

In related news, computer manufacturers have starting labeling parts as White Devil and Uppity Negro.

While we address this critical and vital issue in race relations, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

Chicago SunTimes:

The City Council champion of the slave reparations movement demanded Monday that Carole Brown apologize to African Americans or step down as CTA board chairwoman for “allowing herself to be used” to defend a financial services firm with past ties to slavery.

Ald. Dorothy Tillman (3rd) said it’s insensitive and insulting for Brown, senior vice president of Lehman Brothers, to suggest that “the Lehman Brothers in the 1850s is not the company that it is today.”

Brown made the statement after the company she works for became the first city contractor to admit past ties to slavery.

“She should have kept her mouth shut and said, ‘I’m not going to speak against my people.’ Why is this young lady trying to speak on behalf of slave owners? [They're saying], ‘Let’s parade this black woman out there,’ ” Tillman said.

“Who is she to say that things have changed? Things have not changed. The economy for blacks in this country is just as bad as it was under Jim Crow. We still have only 1 percent of the wealth. She’s not there because of her merits or because someone loves her. She’s there because of the fight we waged for parity in this country.”

Tillman demanded that Brown make a choice: Apologize for allowing herself to be used to sanitize the reputation of a company built on the backs of her own people or step aside as CTA chairwoman.

While black leaders fight this epic battle, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty

I got a comment in this post from the KKK, asserting their right to be bigots. I agree, they have a right to be bigots. But I have a right to tell them how stupid they are for being bigots.

WATE:

Managers at the Newport Plain Talk newspaper want to find out who put KKK membership flyers in their newspapers.

Subscribers called the newspaper’s office after finding the flyers wrapped around newspapers with rubber bands.

The Plain Talk publisher said he didn’t know someone had added the flyers and whoever did it did not have permission.

This is the second incident involving the KKK flyers. Last summer, someone also added them to newspapers.

From the WaPo:

Democratic presidential candidate Al Sharpton (Hahaha – yeah, right) launched a blistering attack on Howard Dean yesterday, accusing his rival of promoting an “anti-black agenda.”

- Snarky comment added

“Howard Dean’s opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA’s [National Rifle Association's] agenda amounts to an anti-black agenda that will not sell in communities of color in this country,” Sharpton said in a statement.

He said his comments were in response to a news report yesterday that Rep. Jesse L. Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) plans to endorse Dean, the former Vermont governor and presumed front-runner for the 2004 Democratic nomination. Sharpton has had a long-standing rivalry with the congressman’s father, Jesse L. Jackson, who twice ran for president.

The NRA is anti-black? And the death penalty is only a black issue?

While Mr. Sharpton uses this opportunity to snag some free press err deal with important black issues, SayUncle estimates that in America today: 21 black people will commit murder; 22 black people will be murdered; 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking crimes; 1,000,000 black people are in prison; and 26,500,000 black people live in poverty.

There is apparently a bit of a scuffle involving the proposed name change of Atlanta’s airport:

A push to add the name of former Mayor Maynard Jackson to the title of the city’s airport pits the legacy of two popular mayors against each other and has reignited simmering tensions of new Atlanta vs. old, and black vs. white.

snip

This really shouldn’t be about what the white business establishment would allow,” state Rep. “Able” Mable Thomas, a former city council member, said at a public forum. “It’s really what the strength of the African-American community will allow. What will we stand for?”

While community leaders ponder this important issue in race relations, SayUncle estimates that in the US today approximately 20 black people will be murdered, 506 black people will be arrested for drug trafficking, and 22 black people will commit a murder. Glad our priorities are straight.

Via Glenn, comes news of black leaders being angry over Ghettopoly:

Cheap Trick Avenue instead of Boardwalk? Hernando’s Chop Shop instead of Reading Railroad?

Black leaders are outraged over a new board game called “Ghettopoly” that has “playas” acting like pimps and game cards reading, “You got yo whole neighborhood addicted to crack. Collect $50.”

This I found funny too:

Shine displayed the game board, with properties including Westside Liquor, Harlem, The Bronx, and Long Beach City, and squares labeled Smitty’s XXX Peep Show, Weinstein’s Gold and Platinum, and Tyron’s Gun Shop.

I’m sure the black leaders are upset at the non-black stereotypes listed above too.

Per this:

Southern Methodist University shut down a bake sale Wednesday in which cookies were offered for sale at different prices, depending on the buyer’s race or gender.

The sale was organized by the Young Conservatives of Texas, who said it was intended as a protest of affirmative action.

A sign said white males had to pay $1 for a cookie. The price was 75 cents for white women, 50 cents for Hispanics and 25 cents for blacks.

Members of the conservative group said they meant no offense and were only trying to protest the use of race or gender as a factor in college admissions.

Kevin has a good post about guns and racism. As with any study of race factors, the response is to attack such things as racist. I addressed this here a bit back.

Also, one thing often overlooked is the racist origin of gun control. The first gun control laws were passed to disarm blacks. In Tennessee, for example, there was a law passed that stated the only handgun that could be owned was a Colt. These Colts were too expensive for poor blacks to purchase.

Black protestors turn out to protest Jesse Jackson.

Jesse wasn’t there, he was too busy running his two Anheiser Busch distributorships that he blackmailed and extorted from the man, err, earned fairly and squarely.

In Florida, there is a requirement that to advance to certain grade levels in school, you must pass certain tests. Turns out that a great number of minorities don’t do so well on this test. So the minority community leaders there are looking into ways to improve minorities’ scores through education and community activism. Just kidding (but I had you didn’t I?)! The minority leadership is doing, unfortunately, what most minority leadership does: They’ve called the tests racist and are organizing a boycott until the tests are modified.

In fact, some allege that Gov. Bush made these tests racist on purpose so that minorities couldn’t advance. Why do minority leaders often claim that something is racist then ask for special privileges (i.e., different racism) to compensate for the racism. Assuming blacks can’t pass a test that white’s can is racist, detrimental, and will set black folks up for failure since they’re not held to higher standards. People of all races should be held to the same standards of education. It is a disservice to minorities to lax their requirements.

Instead of labeling the tests racist, maybe the question should be asked: why aren’t minorities doing well on these tests? Then try to increase their educational opportunities. Encouraging people to be stupid and that it’s OK because of their genetic make up is immoral.

The NAACP is blaming gun manufacturers for deaths and claming that gun violence disproportionately kills poor, urban blacks and it accuses gun companies of not doing enough to stop it. So, following the great American tradition, it is suing gun manufacturers.

Other NAACP claims:

. . . African-American males between the ages of 15 and 24 are almost five times more likely to be injured by firearms than are white males in the same age group.

The reality, of course, is that gun violence doesn’t kill black people. Black people kill black people:

. . . while blacks make up only 12 percent of the population, they account for 46 percent of total violent crime and 90 percent of the murders of other blacks.

The NAACP is abusing the passive verb tense quite a bit, claiming gun violence is responsible for deaths. Neither gun manufacturers nor gun violence are responsible for black folks killing black folks. It takes the will of a human being and their finger to pull a trigger. It is a conscious thought. Guns are not roaming the country side on their own shooting black folks arbitrarily. The black community and the failures of its leadership are responsible for the disproportionate numbers of deaths from guns. This kind of fallacious thinking of blaming objects is absolutely asinine. Of course, it’s better than the NAACP admitting that it has failed to educate the black community. It’s also better than black community leaders admitting they are, in fact, ineffective at dealing with the problems of the black community (like drugs, poverty, and gun violence). It’s easier to blame others and rally support against an imaginary foe than to proactively change mindsets, which, you know, requires effort.

Now, if I wanted to sue all black people, that would be ludicrous. As is suing gun manufacturers. Now, someone will call me a racist.

In addition to racial hatred in suburbia, a man was severely beaten in the old city because the attackers thought he was gay.

A man is recovering from four days in a coma after a group of men jumped him as he was leaving Cup-a-Joe in the Old City.

The Jonathan Rule’s family says the men attacked Jonathan because they thought he was gay.

But the crime can’t be classified as a hate crime because sexual orientation isn’t included in Tennessee’s hate crimes law.

First, this is horrible. I always hear folks (especially folks who just moved here) in East Tennessee talking about how nice people here are. Then crap like this happens. Second, I oppose hate crime legislation. The penalty should be the same for beating up a white guy as it is for beating up a black guy. However, our local news program decided to make it an issue. Homophobia and racism are still the problem, regardless of hate crime legislation.

I heard on the news that three men were taken into custody over this incident.

Heard on the radio this morning an interview with Mr. Whiteside (the victim of racism in our fair city). He told the radio guy that his neighbor (the bigot) was using the racial epitaphs in front of the police and in front of the press. The radio guy’s response was basically that he couldn’t believe people still did that stuff in 2003. Mr. Whiteside states that he and his family are going to move. Mr. Whiteside, of course, should not move but he does fear for the safety of his 6 and 10 year-old children.

Mr. Whiteside stated he’d been contacted by national media outlets who want to cover the story. Another embarassment for Knoxville.

An interesting note is that the radio guy played Grandmaster Flash’s White Lines as the introduction to the segment.

Hang in there Mr. Whiteside! Don’t move. This incident is another big fat blemish for Knoxville. Bah!

A follow up article in the KNS addressing the recent racist incident in West Knoxville reports:

The Whiteside family has been living in the neighborhood for about two years. James Haldeman moved in about a year ago

Bubba found the information at KGIS. This extensive research conducted by Bubba (until recently unknown to the KNS) probably took an entire (brace yourself) five minutes. That’s right, reporters were amazed at the amount of time said research took. Standard journalism procedures suggest a maximum of three minutes tops or else the story gets old.

The article suggests a panel be formed to examine racial incidents since the 1990s in Knoxville. Including a cross burning in Halls.

Of course, racial means: Of, relating to, or characteristic of race or races.
Arising from or based on differences among human racial groups: racial conflict; racial discrimination.

I think our reporter means racist.

Of course, no amount of panels will end racism in our fair city. We need to change attitudes. In the case of James Haldeman, that is a pointless endeavor, I’m afraid. Racists ignorant morons will always exist.

Racism in Knoxville, who’d've thunk it!

Update: I’m not speechless any more. This really pisses me off to no end.

Update2:

Representatives from the Knoxville branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, the Knoxville Area Urban League and the Knoxville Region of the National Conference for Community and Justice were expected to attend the press conference, along with some public officials.

Source: KNS

Of course, they should hold the press conference in the street in front of the neighbor’s house.

Whiteside (the victim): This guy has left a cloud over the community forever. And he has the audacity to fly the American flag on his house

Update3: Neglected to mention that the source I’m getting this stuff from is the local altweekly message board. Funny how something this important is on one news channel and a message board. Then the KNS picks it up. Maybe I should start my own newspaper, anyone got $10M I can borrow?

Update4: SKB says:

The news story didn’t mention what neighborhood this occurred in. Based on the names of the parties involved, and a little poking around in the KnoxGIS database, it appears that it is in Stonebrook Subdivision. And, an interesting note. It appears that the black family has occupied their property since June of 2001, and flag waving Mr. Bigot moved next door in May of 2002. Now, go take a look at the pictures of the parties involved in the dispute, and recall Mr. Bigot’s remarks that the black family is bringing down property values in the neighborhood. Seems to me like it’s the other way around.

I wish the KNS reporters would maybe have done some research and told us this info. Guess they got other stuff to do.

I was at a gas station in a predominately black neighborhood today. Upon entering the store I notice that outside was a black lady asking everyone who walks by if they had a coat hanger because she had locked her keys in her car. That is, she asked every black person. She neglected to ask me and I coincidentally did have a coat hanger in my vehicle. As I am leaving the store (having paid for my stuff), she’s still outside asking black people passing by if the had a coat hanger (again, she neglected to ask me). At first, I was offended that she would not ask me. I would, after all, be more than happy to help the lady. Then the irony bug hit me and I decided that I would not offer her my coat hanger but that I would wait and see if she caved and asked me. I stood there at the entrance and fumbled for my keys, stalled, and made a good effort to make eye contact with the lady. It never happened as she would immediately look away. Finally, I left with the satisfaction that her refusal to ask me (a white guy in business casual clothing) would cause her to wait longer than necessary.

I just can’t figure it out. I mean, I’m not like hideously ugly or anything. I also think I appear to be a fairly approachable guy. So, the only factor (I concluded) was that I wasn’t black.

It was very disappointing in a very surreal sort of way. Bah!