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» Polish Politician Calls Obama's Ancestors Cannibals
• "Poland has been forced to deny its foreign minister 'joked' that President-Elect Barack Obama's grandparents were cannibals. In an episode that could potentially strain relations between Warsaw and Washington, Radek Sikorski, an Oxford-educated politician who has lived in the US, was reported to have made the jibe by an opposition politician, Ryszard Czarnecki. Writing in his blog, Mr Czarnecki, an MEP, quoted the foreign minister as saying: 'Have you heard that Obama may have a Polish connection? His grandfather ate a Polish missionary.' A spokesman for the Polish foreign office conceded that Mr Sikorski had made the controversial comment, but denied that the foreign minister had intended to insult Mr Obama, whose father was Kenyan." |
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Civil Rights: Then and Now
![]() Using his unique perspective as a half-black, half-Jewish cartoonist from California, Darrin Bell has made his comic strip, Candorville, one of the most interesting places to look for opinions about modern African Americans vis-à-vis the American Government. As you can see above, Bell sensed hypocrisy in California on Election Day. Click through for another of his takes. |
» Hate Crimes Surge in Wake of Obama Victory
• "The election of America's first black president has triggered more than 200 hate-related incidents, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center – a record in modern presidential elections. Moreover, the white nationalist movement, bemoaning an election that confirmed voters' comfort with a multiracial demography, expects Mr. Obama's election to be a potent recruiting tool – one that watchdog groups warn could give new impetus to a mostly defanged fringe element. … postelection, at least two white nationalist websites – Stormfront and the Council of Conservative Citizens – report their servers have crashed because of heavy traffic. The League of the South, a secessionist group, says Web hits jumped from 50,000 a month to 300,000 since Nov. 4, and its phones are ringing off the hook." |
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Prince, with his frilly silk shirts and high heel everything, has long been the victim of rumors about his sexuality, and his libido-infused party jams have helped acquire the Minnesota-born musician a devoted gay fan base. So you can imagine our surprise upon learning that the Purple One, who has for several years been an outspoken Jehovah's Witness, went on a homophobic rant during a recent interview with the New Yorker, saying that, in the past, God came down and wiped out homosexual activity. |
» When Does Bigotry Begin?
"But in truth, my son has recently developed a habit of calling black people 'doggie' — on the street, on the subway, in our corner deli. And in response, I have developed a fear of leaving my apartment. On the one hand, I know that my humiliation is an over-reaction. He's a baby with a limited vocabulary. … But, at the risk of reducing my son's budding comprehension to a standardised test question, those verbal swaps represent items of a similar category, things that go, or things you drink. Finding a similar link between Laurence Fishburne eating a plate of pasta and a golden retriever walking on a leash is more problematic. And the fact remains, my son has never, not once, referred to a white person as a dog. So I find myself adding another anxiety to the already overcrowded catalogue of concerns I have about my job as a parent: is my son taking his first steps toward becoming a bigot?" [BabbleBaby] |
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Unfortunately, you had to know this was coming. Angered by the news that black voters were a major factor in the success of Prop 8, California's gay marriage ban, some segments of yesterday's anti-Prop 8 protests in LA soon devolved into hateful pits of racism: |
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Dept of Sore Losers
As you can imagine, racists have been having a rough go of it since last Tuesday, when American voters changed history by electing the nation's first black President. Though most of the bigots have simply been sulking, wondering how soon the Negro Police would be by for the deeds to their homes, others have lashed out, like Murfreesboro Post columnist Stephen Lewis. The embittered Lewis took to the pages of his small-time Tennessee paper to angrily mock the President-elect with a song he wrote based on a familiar, campy television theme. Can you guess which theme? Here's some sample lyrics: "Well we’re movin’ on up/ To Washington, D.C./ To a deee-luxe pimp pad/ Painted whiiiite." Full lyrics after the jump. |
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Scare Tactics
![]() Stare in awe at the latest in disgusting GOP race-baiting. Distributed throughout the very white Wausau, Wisconsin, this flyer, which falsely bears the logo of the Obama campaign, asks voters to support Barack Hussein Obama II(?). Obviously written by someone attempting to mimic leftist black propaganda, the text notes that a vote for Obama II is also a vote for BLACK EMPOWERMENT!!! November 4 can't come soon enough. [Source] |
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John McCain has been commended for that one day last week when he defended Barack Obama twice against claims that the Democratic candidate is scary, not-to-be trusted, and, of course, Arab. But missing in that defense that McCain so generously offered — after being attacked from all sides for his previous failure to do so — was that, in addition to the fact that Obama is neither Muslim nor Arab, Muslims and Arabs should not be feared and shunned. |
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Preying On The Ignorant
[JJP] |
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Something interesting from Saudi Arabia: Though the colors of the citizens here vary as much as they do in most other nations, there's very little racism. Instead, classism is the preferred prejudice. Xenophobia is also a major issue, with Saudis showing caution around foreigners of any type. But, again, if an immigrant has a nose for business, he'll have no problem ingratiating himself into Arab society. Oh, the many wondrous ways we've learned to exclude! |
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IS TEACHING KIDS RACISM CHILD ABUSE? "A seven-year-old girl and a boy, 2, were recently taken by child welfare workers from a home in south Winnipeg after the girl showed up at school with 'hate-related drawings on her body,' police Const. Blair Good said Monday. Good would not confirm a media report that quoted unnamed sources as saying the girl was sporting a swastika and a white supremacy slogan. Manitoba Child and Family Services is before the courts looking to obtain permanent guardianship of the children. The move is based partly on 'concerns that the parents' conduct might endanger the emotional well-being of the children … and that the children may be at risk of harm due to the parents' behaviour and associations,' according to an affidavit from a child welfare worker." |
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Mamma mia! Angry black man Spike Lee is getting a taste of his own opportunistic outrage. After spending the past couple weeks hectoring fellow director Clint Eastwood with charges of prejudiced casting, Lee is now under fire from the Italic Institute of America, which is as bitter as Campari about Lee's portrayal of Italians.
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BLACKS SAY SOME BLACKS 'DON'T COUNT' "'It's much harder to be a white person and go to an all black party at Duke than vote for Obama,' says Jessie Weingartner, a Duke junior. 'On a personal level it is harder to break those barriers down.' Jazmyn Singleton, a black Duke senior agrees. After living in a predominantly white dorm freshman year, she lives with five African-American women in an all-black dormitory. 'Both communities tend to be very judgmental,' says Ms. Singleton, ruefully. 'There is pressure to be black. The black community can be harsh. People will say there are 600 blacks on campus but only two-thirds are 'black' because you can't count blacks who hang out with white people.'" |
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Hate Is Hate
Before losing his world light heavyweight title to Welshman Joe Calzaghe on Saturday night, Bernard Hopkins had assured his fans, "I would never let a white boy beat me. Never." The bold — and what I consider to be ugly — statement raises a question about which editor Lauren Williams and I had a lengthy discussion last week: What if a white person had said something like that? Let me be clear, I in no way believe the world's whites have, as a whole, suffered in the way the world's blacks have, and, for some reason not easily put into words, I think this grants blacks some leeway as far as what is socially acceptable language. (For instance, "cracker" will never be hurtful in the way "nigger" is.) But, as the saying goes, just because you can doesn't mean you should, and bigotry comes from the same place within everyone, regardless of the sensitivity of the targets. Had Calzaghe stood at a press conference and announced, "I'll never lose to a black boy," the fight very well might have been canceled because of the public outcry for Calzaghe's head. Why wasn't there a similar reaction when Hopkins publicly equated white with weakness (a declaration ultimately proved to be untrue)? Words are powerful, and it's a shame historical circumstances have rendered some slurs more acidic than others, but that doesn't mean anyone — no matter their background — should go around flippantly mocking people because of the color of their skin. In fact, very often, it's best to shut up and let your actions speak for you. That's a lesson Bernard Hopkins could stand to learn from that world champion "white boy." |