Category Archives: Race Relations

Judiciary, Politics, Race Relations

Justice Clarence Thomas / Rush Limbaugh Interview

Justice Clarence Thomas of the United States Supreme Court has published his memoir called My Grandfather’s Son and has been doing interviews on all the usual media outlets that people do who come out with a book, except one. That would be Rush Limbaugh’s radio show. For the first time ever, Rush used his radio show airtime to interview Justice Thomas for 90 minutes. Minus the news and commercial breaks it boils down to just under an hour.

For kids today, Justice Thomas’ life story, the problems he faced and how he dealt with them in a segregated South, serves as a blueprint for how to deal with adversity and make the American dream your own. It is truly awe inspiring regardless of the color of your skin and I hope you take the time to hear his story in his own words.

Best I can say about the interview is, regardless what prejudices one might hold about Rush, or Justice Thomas, or blacks, or whites, or conservatives, put it all aside and listen to this interview, his story. In my humble opinion, his book, if not this interview, deserves a hearing in elementary schools everywhere.

Hear the entire interview HERE.

Pensacola, Politics, Race Relations

Being Offended Never Goes Out Of Season

On the subject of Race Relations, there seems to be no shortage of people looking to be offended. Don’t misunderstand me, I’m not saying that there aren’t problems associated with race. Clearly there still are problems. We don’t live in a perfect, color-blind, world yet. A recent incident here in Pensacola, FL comes to mind. But when people of responsibility make accusations that foment racial tension, it just makes the hair on my back (which my wife will attest to) stand up.

Thomas Sowell calls it being belligerent. I agree and for those doing it, I see it as having a chip on your shoulder. Neither of which will earn you brownie points with the police in the course of their duties. It may even lead to you being killed.

Case in point is U.S. Rep. Danny Davis (D-Ill), from the 7th district in Chicago. He was pulled over by police for what he claims is ‘driving while black.’ He was given a $75 ticket for a moving violation. Davis says . . .Rep. Danny Davis

“I hope that this was some kind of isolated instance, but I know in my heart of hearts, I know that it’s not”

He fails to see that the duties of that officer are to protect himself and others with whom he could have had a head-on collision. Hearken back to former Rep. Cynthia McKinney, who committed battery on an officer for doing his job, keeping the capitol building safe and secure. She said it was because she was black. This, in a building where intruders have come in and shot and killed people. There is no measure of understanding from people like McKinney and Davis, other than, I’m black so leave me alone.

Davis says . . .

“There was just no reason I could conjure up other than the fact that there were four black people in a car.”

Oh really? What about swerving over the center line in the wee hours of the morning? He ought to be thankful he wasn’t given a breath test. Had he been drinking, and there is no evidence that he was or wasn’t, his ticket could have been much worse.

By contrast, Thomas Sowell has his own experience of DWB, Driving While Black.

Twice within the past few years, I have been pulled over by the police for driving at night without my headlights on. My car is supposed to turn on the headlights automatically when the light outside is below a certain level, but sometimes I accidentally brush against the controls and inadvertently switch them to manual.

Both times I thanked the policeman because he may well have saved my life. Neither time did I get a ticket or even a warning. In each case, the policeman was white.

and

Recently a well-known black journalist told me of a very different experience. He happened to be riding along in a police car driven by a white policeman. Ahead of them was a car driving at night with no headlights on and, in the dark, it was impossible to see who was driving it. When the policeman pulled the car over, a black driver got out and, when the policeman told him that he was driving without his lights on, the driver said, “You only pulled me over because I am black!”This was said even though he saw the black man who was with the policeman. The driver got a ticket.

There needs to be some distinction between driving while black and driving while being a jerk.

CBS2 Chicago | Driving While Black | What Color Is Articulate?

Pensacola, Race Relations

Service Station Refuses Service To Blacks

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Sounds like something right out of the last century. But it happened last weekend right here in Pensacola, FL to a black woman. It all went down like this.

She went to get gas at a Race Track gas station near I-10 and Rt. 29 around 9:30 p.m. while they were open. There was a woman attendant there who told her through the glass window to go away, that they don’t serve blacks at night. She didn’t understand what the woman told her at first because she couldn’t hear very well through the glass and the woman was a foreigner of some sort. So the woman kept replying “What? I can’t hear you?” Something like that. The attendant then brandished a hatchet towards her, telling her to get out and leave. She did leave, but as she was leaving, a white customer came up and was served without incident.

I am not releasing the identity of the woman who was refused service, and threatened with an axe, because the course of action she may take has not yet been determined. I know her personally and have no reason to doubt what she told me, and, there was a witness.

I don’t know how prevalent a behavior this is at that gas station but for me, once is too much. If something like this has happened to you, I’d appreciate hearing about it.

Politics, Race Relations

Racial Double Standard In Full View

This incident, where a politician called a 75 yr. old Black civil rights activist “Buckwheat” is the subject of what amounts to a media blackout. Why a media blackout on such a derogatory statement? Looks like the reason is because the Louisiana State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez is a Democrat. If she were Republican you know that Jesse Sharpton would be all over it.

Hazel Boykin, a 75-year-old civil rights activist who helped desegregate Louisiana restaurants and schools, helped Democratic State Representative Carla Blanchard Dartez get voters to the polls earlier this month. At the end of a private telephone conversation thanking Boykin for her efforts, Representative Dartez said, “Talk to you later, Buckwheat.”

Buckwheat? Where did that come from? It slimes one of my favorite TV shows growing up as a kid, Our Gang Comedy. In the context it was used, it may as well have been the n-word. The fact that it was a private phone conversation does not matter, if we are to hold Dartez to the same standard as Dwayne “Dog” Chapman. No one is demanding Carla Blanchard Dartez to resign from her seat. Mainly because no one even knows about it. We all know the mill that Chapman has been put through, including losing his job. Is this a racial double standard or a political double standard? Or both?

Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie is criticizing both the lawmaker for saying it and the media for once again appearing to take a pass on reporting about a liberal politician’s racial foible. And that criticism is well deserved.

National Center link

Politics, Race Relations

Eliminate White Guilt Now

If you are white and are feeling especially guilty over slavery, there is an alternative to Sam Brownback and John McCain’s resolution to apologize to blacks in America for slavery. There is a way you can eliminate all your guilt and make amends. You can contribute directly to the “Snoop Save A Negro Foundation.”

But wait, if you act now, you’ll also get a years worth of fried chicken, and the Rosetta Stone Ebonics Edition and more.

Not for whites only.
h/t Snoop @ Political Party Poop

Politics, Race Relations, Uncategorized

Louisiana Elects Republican Piyush (Bobby) Jindal Governor

Louisiana’s gubernatorial election yesterday has all the elements of the American dream. A son of Governor elect Bobby JindalIndian immigrants, Rep. Bobby Jindal (R-LA) is the first minority to be elected governor since Reconstruction. He won with 53% of the votes against two multimillionaire opponents who, unlike Jindal, put millions of dollars of their own money to run against him.

Jindal, a 36-year-old Republican, will be the nation’s youngest governor. He had 53 percent with 625,036 votes with about 92 percent of the vote tallied. It was more than enough to win Saturday’s election outright and avoid a Nov. 17 runoff.

“My mom and dad came to this country in pursuit of the American dream. And guess what happened. They found the American dream to be alive and well right here in Louisiana.”

Second and third place finishers were Democrat Walter Boasso, who put in $5 million of his own money, got 18 percent of the vote. And Independent John Georges, who put in $11 million of his own cash, got 14 percent. Eight other candidates garnered the rest of the votes.

At 53% to 18%, of if you prefer to look at it another way, 53% to 32%, it appears that the people of the State of Louisiana have decided that decades of Democrats in Baton Rouge, highlighted by the Hurricane Katrina disaster, has not worked out. It also means, as new RNC Chair Mike Duncan says, that “Republican candidates who are true to our Party’s fundamental principles win at the ballot box.”

The reporting of his victory, history-making as it is, has brought up a new phrase for what I would call a minority. “Non-white.” What’s up with that? I think ‘minority’ is not only correct but it doesn’t have a color of skin attached to it. Are we now to believe that ‘minority’ means black? Is there some sort of ownership regarding race for the word ‘minority?’

Jindal, whose first name is Piyush, is the son of immigrants from India and the first non-white Louisiana governor since Reconstruction in the 1870s.

And then there are the nutroots. Who claim that the DNC is calling the GOP racists. Can’t anything happen without being accused of being racist? Didn’t we already go through this last year? It isn’t and wasn’t the Republican party that had a paucity of blacks in key positions of government.

Link:DNC: Racist GOP Elects Jindal Token Governor, Bobby Rises In Louisiana

Race Relations, Uncategorized

It’s A New Day In Philadelphia This Sunday

Following through on Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson’s plan to make Philly a safer place to live, the 10,000 Men On The Street program kicks off this Sunday October 21, 2007. ‘It’s a new day in Philadelphia’ kicks off in the Liacouras Center at Temple University, 12 noon. Be there if you can help. You can register online here. ‘Philly’s Best,’ WDAS-FM is participating with a message of their own, “Put It Down. ”

Entertainment insider, local promoter and movie producer Charles “Charlie Mack” Alston, and music mogul, Philadelphia icon and community developer Kenny Gamble combined forces with Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson to help combat the senseless gun violence plaguing the streets of Philadelphia and promote harmony in the neighborhoods. The community rallies reflect a partnership with a broad-based coalition of community, government, professional and faith based organizations.

Sylvester is looking for volunteer citizens to get involved by going into their neighborhoods and give 3 hours a day for 90 days. 10,000 if possible, but he’d be pleased if he gets 1000. What I like about this idea is that these volunteers are not ‘the man.’ They are fathers, uncles, cousins, brothers, and sons of families living in the neighborhood, not police with guns, clubs, and pepper spray. This kind of involvement will be the starting point for turning things around in the city and the commissioner deserves all the support he can get.

Links:
A Call To Action 10,000 Men On The Street
Put It Down
WDAS-FM Put It Down
Commish: I need 10,000 black men

2008 Election, Politics, Race Relations

A Race To The Bottom

You know it was a matter of when, not if, Jesse Jackson would find a way to play the race card. Just to show that it is possible for politics to cross racial lines, they are both thought to be black, Jesse Jackson is saying that Barack Obama is acting white over the ‘Jena six’ incident. Jackson says the obvious, “If I were a candidate, I’d be all over Jena.” Presumably, Obama is acting white because he isn’t “all over” it?

While Jesse Jackson keeps digging, so does congress.

America Needs Me link

Race Relations

10,000 Men On The Street In Philly

Philly has been trying to get a grip on the murder rate in the city. It has been at a record high all year, and getting worse. There are 294 murders as of today. Mostly in black neighborhoods where both shooters and victims are kids. Sylvester Johnson, the police chief is looking for citizen volunteers to help.

Sylvester Johnson says black men, in particular, have a duty to protect more vulnerable residents. He wants each volunteer to pledge to work three hours a day for at least 90 days.

“We are definitely encouraging black men to be involved in it,” Johnson told The Associated Press on Thursday. “We have an obligation to give back. We have an obligation to protect our women, our children, our elderly.”

But Johnson said he would not turn away men of other races.

“We have to put the tourniquet where we’re bleeding at this point,” he said. “We’re not restricting anybody.”

It is sickening to see this happening to the kids and it does have to be stopped. It never has been as bad in Philly as it is now. Sylvester is looking for volunteer citizens to get involved by going into their neighborhoods and give 3 hours a day for 90 days. 10,000 if possible, but he’d be pleased if he only gets 1000. What I like about this idea is that these volunteers are not ‘the man.’ They are fathers, uncles, brothers, and sons of families living in the neighborhood, not police with guns, clubs, and pepper spray. This kind of involvement will be the starting point for turning things around in the city and the chief deserves all the support he can muster.

According to the 10,000 Men website, Sunday October 21, 2007 is the kick-off of ‘It’s a new day in Philadelphia’ in the Liacouras Center at Temple University, 12 noon.

Philadelphia Daily News link

related: More Kids Killing Kids In Philadelphia
No Stopping Philadelphia Murderers