Racism in the Sunshine State:
Latinos Have no History in Arizona Schools
By Jess Guh
It's all too appropriate that on the day that we celebrate the birthday of one of history’s most notable civil rights leaders, Arizona is in the national news spotlight. Arizona,one of the last states to recognize Martin Luther King Jr's birthday as a federal holiday only began doing in 1992. Ironically, Arizona’s Attorney General Tom Horne, a supporter of the states tough new immigration laws, and author of a new ban on ethnic studies in the state’s public schools, continually cites his participation in MLK's marches as proof that he's not a racist.
Today , my anger over his actions, a "killing rage" that makes my heart pound, has burned itself out. Instead, a steady determination sets in as I reflect on my disappointment over Arizona's new legislation. I realize that much of my anger, though directed at Tom Horne, comes from an awareness that though he may be extreme, he's also an embodiment of most of white America, a testament to the painfully shallow understanding that most folks have about race in this country.
It actually reminds me of the beginning of medical school. In addition to adjusting to new academic demands, the first fews months are a whirlwind recruiting process for the numerous clubs on campus. Of the professional organizations, one can join the American Medical Association, the American Medical Student Association, the Black Medical Association, the American Medical Women's Association, the Latin American/Native American Medical Association, the United Asian American Medical Student Association, and the Bisexuals, Gays, Lesbians, and Allies in Medicine. Every year a white guy who thinks he's pretty clever will ask, "What about me? How come there's nothing for white guys to join?" There is one and he's already joined it. It's called the institution of medicine.
I shudder to think about the number of white folks in this country who are like that. They know that groups for minorities exist and that it would be politically incorrect to question them, but they're not really sure why. And deep down inside, though they may never say it out loud, they do think it's wrong when a minority applicant is given a position "over an equally qualified white applicant." It's "reverse racism" - the battle cry of white folks with only a superficial understanding of race and no concept of privilege.
Tom Horne wants to talk about race and history without talking about racism. That's not only impossible, but an untruth. It's like trying to talk about women in the workplace without talking about sexism...
For the rest of this article by JESS GUH in ThisCantBeHappening!, the new independent online alternative newspaper, please go to: www.thiscantbehappening.net/
#2
Momma Grizzly Mauls Smokey the Bear
By Linn Washington Jr.
Outdoors enthusiast Sarah Palin, who sees sport in blasting wolves with assault rifles from helicopters, surely knows the practical message of iconic fictional character Smokey The Bear: “Only you can prevent forest fires.”
Whether Momma Grizzly can really see Russia from her home in Alaska, as she once claimed, she certainly can see the clear meaning of Alaska Statute Section 41.15.110 titled “Uncontrolled Spread of Fire; Leaving Fire Unattended.”
Under a provision in that statue section, a person is guilty of a misdemeanor if they neglect “to make every effort possible” to extinguish a fire they’ve knowingly set.
Now former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is not guilty of literally starting wildfires in the forests around her beloved Wasilla home. But she is complicit in figuratively firing up the dry tinder in America’s forests of political discontent with incendiary rhetoric delivered with the clear intent to inflame.
Incendiary?
Damn right!
What else describes Palin repeatedly calling political opponent Barack Obama a “terrorist” during the Fall 2008 presidential campaign – a characterization carrying incendiary overtones in America’s post-9/11 climate.
Flicking off criticisms about her inappropriate campaign rhetoric, Palin knowingly fired opposition to President Obama’s health-care reform telling supporters to “reload” not retreat – slick phrasing embedding incendiary reference to firearms.
And dumping hot cinders on civility, Palin put gun sight cross-hairs on a map targeting twenty Democratic members of Congress to be unseated.
Irrespective of Palin’s indignant claim that such imagery is harmless political hyperbole the cross-hairs graphics were as ominous as incendiary.
One of those Congress members put in Palin’s cross-hairs, of course, was Arizona Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, who was critically wounded during that recent massacre where a crazed gunman killed six and wounded 14.
That Tucson shooting rampage is not an isolated act in America’s tinderbox political arena, where right-wing anti-government adherents repeatedly engaged in shootouts with police last year in incidents that included a March 2010 shooting at the Pentagon, a May shooting near Memphis and a July shooting in California.
It is no coincidence that President Obama has been the target of more death threats than any president in American history, according to the Secret Service.
That at least some of those threats against the President result directly from the charged anti-Obama rhetoric comparing him to Hitler and calling him un-American is as certain as the connection Smokey the Bear draws between reckless conduct and ruinous forest fires. A forest fire destroys whether it starts from accident or arson...
Top read the rest of this article by LINN WASHINGTON, JR. in ThisCantBeHappening!, the new independent online alternative newspaper, please go to: www.thiscantbehappening.net/
PLEASE START THIS NEW YEAR BY MAKING A CONTRIBUTION TO SUPPORT THIS INDEPENDENT ONLINE NEWSPAPER! You want real, courageous independent news that doesn't pull its punches, right? You know the corporate media isn't telling it to you like it is, right? So support the media you trust. We are a fully reader-supported project, and without you, we can't do what we're trying to do. So go to our home page, scroll down to the Donate button, and make a donation in any amount. Thank you! The TCBH Collective.
No comments:
Post a Comment