Category Archives: racism

Dixie in Pennsylvania: Racism in Litiz, Pennsylvania

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The Jena 6 story is sobering. It reminds everyone that for as advanced as we think our society to be, old bigotries are not non-existent, just put away in the basement, away from the prying eyes of visitors. But just like my cluttered old house, you can’t hide everything. The dust bunnies in the corner pile up and one day threaten to trip me on the way into the house. For many people in the northeast, we think of the south as the basement – things that happen there, could never happen here, right?

Wrong.

There’s always been the grudging acceptance in Pennsylvania of its dixie of the north status. Derisively known as Pennsyltucky or Pennsylbama ( Philadelphia and Pittsburgh on the east and west – and Kentucky or Alabama in between). Technically a blue state, purple is more accurate. Still the story of what’s happening in Lititz, Pennsylvania needs to be broadcast across the country. Racism isn’t something relegated to the south – it’s live and kicking here in the north too. Litiz is about 75 miles away from Philadelphia in Lancaster County. A predominantly white community, and as with the rest of the country, it is dealing with a diversification of it’s demographics. This diversification has led to incidents in the high school where white students have accosted and taunted black students and their parents. There’s talk of a “redneck row” where only white students are allowed to park their pickup trucks. Liberal use of the word nigger.

Unlike the situation in Jena, the authorities have reacted appropriately by suspending the students responsible. There hasn’t any retaliation by the black students (although this situation is new and bears keeping an eye on). Still it is sad to see cases like this crop up across the country. Even at Columbia University, an Ivy League college, there have been racial incidents in the recent months. While the Jena 6 story deserves all the attention it has received, we need to keep a close eye closer to home. Traveling to the south to protest racism is not required – there’s enough to protest in our backyards, whether it be the Jena, LA or Lititz, PA. I’m hoping more light is shed on stories such as these.

Pay attention to what’s going on in your house – not everything can be hidden away in the basement.

Racial Harmony Upsets a Small Town – Philadelphia Inquirer

Noose Targets Columbia University Professor – ABC News

Swelling the population of Jena, LA

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Today is my birthday and the best gift I could have received is seeing people stand up for the Jena 6 in massive numbers.

Currently watching the CNN Special Investigation on the Jena 6 and I’m amazed that people don’t understand that you may think there is no racism, and you may think that things are peachy, but if you’re white, that opinion doesn’t mean much. Don’t read too much into that statement. What I’m saying is that hearing the whites in town say there’s no racism in town is like hearing a convict say that they’re innocent. The people that have been oppressed in Jena, have lived under that oppression for decades. The whites in Jena of course think there is no problem and of course the blacks think they’re awash in problems.

My questions: Where is the Governor or Attorney General in all this? How about the President? One woman says the town needs to learn the lessons of the past – in the year 2007, that they haven’t learned these lessons, is a testament to what’s wrong in this town.

My thanks to everyone that went there. I wish I could be with you.

A Jena 6 Update

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So tomorrow there’s a march in Jena, Louisiana. I’m very glad that those that are attending, aren’t “staying the hell home”. I wish I could be with them because what’s going on in Jena is true racism. So many people play the race card when it isn’t warranted. Not to say, that there aren’t varying degrees of racism, but what these young men are putting up with, is far more than I’ve seen in my 39 years. It’s been over a century since slavery ended, but the vestiges of it are live and kicking in the south.

Tomorrow night on CNN they’ll be running a special report Special Investigations Unit: Judgment in Jena. I’m glad CNN has been so big in getting the word out. I’m thankful it has kicked Hollywood starlets out of the limelight.

Just a thought

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It’s interesting the difference in uproar between the Jena six story and the Michael Vick case.

Just saying.

It’s not over yet. As long as one of those young men is still in jail or about to stand trial – then it’s not over. A Jena, Louisiana school board member by the name of Billy Fowler said “Outsiders need to stay away.” Well that’s how Jena was allowed to remain entrenched in 1950 – because outsiders stayed away. Now they have the audacity to demand that we allow their racist ways to go on unchecked – I say we need to be just as audacious as they are. People often ridicule Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson, but look what remains in this world.

Don’t let the leaders in Jena off the hook and don’t forget the Jena six.

Nice post on the Huffington Post

Update
Interested in donating? Read the following article Chicago Sun Times that lists the following address for donations:

Jena 6 Defense Fund
P.O. Box 2798
Jena, La. 71342.

The Jena Six story

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I had a conversation with friends recently where I said I could never live in the south. A story like the following is exactly why I couldn’t. For anyone that thinks racism isn’t alive and well in America, please, please watch the following story. It’s sobering.

WPvideo 1.10
The Jena Six

Here’s the link to the online petition. Please write about it on your blogs. Send this post to your friends before the government takes away the lives of 6 young people.

The Jena Six Petition

More on this story:

Charges Reduced in ‘Jena Six’ attack
Nooses hanging in school tree raise spectre of old South

Democracy Now: The case of the Jena Six

1947 – 2007: The Phillies have a ways to go

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howard42.jpgLast week the Philadelphia Phillies celebrated the 60th anniversary of Jackie Robinson’s breaking of the color barrier in major league baseball. All of the Phillies players wore Robinson’s   number 42 to honor the anniversa. This is a far cry from how they celebrated the 10th anniversary of this occasion – by becoming the last National League team to field an African-American player. Move forward 50 years and the Phillies have moved forward somewhat.   In a league where there are teams that don’t have one African-American, two of their premier players and team leaders, Jimmy Rollins and Ryan Howard are African-American. Their closer Tom Gordon is also   African-American. They have also been one of the leading teams in working to bring baseball back to the inner city. With all this progress I wonder if it stops at the field. I wonder this because when I went to their website recently they were promoting their ballgirls (their term, not mine) and I noticed that out of 14 members, not one woman of color. How can this be in a city that is 43% African-American, that not one person on this squad is?

ballgirls_581×397.jpgThe Phillies and major league baseball have spoken about how they want more African-American customers and players, but you have to wonder, if we’re not welcome as employees, should we support the team with our dollars. The thing to remember is that this squad is arbitrarily chosen and it makes sense to make sure that it is indicative of the city you represent.

As a fan of the Phillies, I’m going to hope that this is an oversite on their part. It’s easy to overlook something like this.   But I can promise you that I will be watching them closely when I do attend a game. Are the jobs for African-Americans only in concessions? What about management? The Phillies have never had an African-American manager – matter of fact, all of their managers and GMs have been as lily white as the 1947 Phillies were.

Makes you wonder if they truly get it.

Worst week ever: Don Imus edition

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I’ve been laid off before and it doth sucketh. The only thing that has to suck harder is being fired not once, but twice, in a 24 hour period. Well Don Imus has been fired by both NBC and CBS in the past day. (ABC and Fox are debating whether or not to fire Imus even though he apparently works for neither).

It’s amazing how much of a story this has become. Because it involved two basketball teams, it’s a sports story and entertainment on top of being a national news story so we get to see it on ESPN and the E network as well as on CNN. Add to this that in the Youtube generation, the embarrassment gets forwarded and watched on demand. Imus is getting more press coverage than George Bush did the day after election day last year.

The funny thing is it isn’t like no one knew Imus thought this way. He has a history of saying racist, sexist comments and at no time did he risk losing his job. He is being fired for simply doing what he did daily for years. The difference is that he dared to make his employers and sponsors look bad. Don’t get drawn in by the stern statements and finger wagging – if this had quickly disappeared from page 1, he’d be saying the same shit tomorrow. No, what he did wrong was to embarrass them and the result is that they need to publicly distance themselves from him. This firing won’t change his mind or the minds of anyone like him. What it will do is remind every bigot that it’s better to keep your thoughts to themselves. Honestly I prefer my bigots to wear white hoods and robes. The devil you know…

So Don Imus is without a job and CBS and MSNBC (as well as the sponsors) can act as if none of this happened. Staples and American Express will simply move their ad dollars to Limbaugh and not skip a beat. The bad man has been banished. Unfortunately the people who created and enabled the bad man are free to do it again – and we can’t fire them.

At some point these corporations need to be held responsible for the words their employees spout. No more “The views expressed by the racist, bigoted, asshole we’re paying millions of dollars to, do not represent the views of the company making big money” bullshit.

Imus has every right to say and think what he wants. But his getting paid for it is what really is the shame of it all.