Monday, July 26, 2010
The Incarceration Rate In The United States
From The Economist: in the United States "[o]ne American adult in 100 festers behind bars (with the rate rising to one in nine for young black men). Its imprisoned population, at 2.3 m, exceeds that of 15 of its states."
The Roberts Court
Adam Liptak looks at the Supreme Court and argues that in the last five years "the court not only moved to the right but also became the most conservative one in living memory, based on an analysis of four sets of political science data."
Shocked Black Parents
From CBS News: "How did Ben and Angel Ihegboro, a black Nigerian couple living in London, give birth to a white daughter?"
The "Black Power" Sundae?
From the Bangor Daily News: A vacationing President Obama and his family stopped in the "Mount Desert Island Ice Cream" shop in Bar Harbor, Maine for ice cream cones.
"Photos of the impromptu visit were taken and posted online, where several bloggers noticed that the shop's logo of an upright black fist clenching a spoon resembles the clenched black fist that was adopted as a black power symbol in the 1960s.
"In a claim that many people think could have been lifted from the satirical news outlet The Onion or 'The Daily Show,' several right-leaning bloggers have suggested that the decision by Obama, the nation's first black president, to patronize a shop with what one site called 'such a politically-sensitive logo' has hidden, intentional meaning."
For what it's worth (apparently not much in this hysterical silly season), the shop "is owned by a white woman and . . . Maine's population in 2008 was estimated to be 95 percent white and only 1 percent African-American . . ." The owner, Linda Parker, explains "that she went with the spoon-in-fist symbol to differentiate her company from other larger ice cream makers . . . It's just ice cream."
"Photos of the impromptu visit were taken and posted online, where several bloggers noticed that the shop's logo of an upright black fist clenching a spoon resembles the clenched black fist that was adopted as a black power symbol in the 1960s.
"In a claim that many people think could have been lifted from the satirical news outlet The Onion or 'The Daily Show,' several right-leaning bloggers have suggested that the decision by Obama, the nation's first black president, to patronize a shop with what one site called 'such a politically-sensitive logo' has hidden, intentional meaning."
For what it's worth (apparently not much in this hysterical silly season), the shop "is owned by a white woman and . . . Maine's population in 2008 was estimated to be 95 percent white and only 1 percent African-American . . ." The owner, Linda Parker, explains "that she went with the spoon-in-fist symbol to differentiate her company from other larger ice cream makers . . . It's just ice cream."
On Black Sprinters And White Swimmers
The UK Telegraph notes that "two US academics have risked controversy by publishing a theory that attempts to explain the contrasting performance of black and white athletes using the laws of locomotion." Enjoy.
Limbaugh On Steinbrenner
CNN reported this Rush Limbaugh comment, made on the day following Steinbrenner's death: "George Steinbrenner was a 'cracker who made a lot of African-American millionaires.'"
Colorism
Sharon Bramlett-Solomon discusses colorism--"color prejudice that values and privileges light skin tone over dark skin tone"--in this Arizona Republic article. "Since U.S. slavery days, African-Americans with light or near-White complexions and Eurocentric features have been privileged over those with darler skin. Colorism can be traced to when slave masters had sex with female slaves and fathered light-skin children, who were allowed to occupy the master's house and were accorded preferential treatment."
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Mel Gibson And Hate
"Apparently, Mel Gibson is a better actor than anyone knew," Leonard Pitts writes. From the column:
"People tend to have this naive notion about hate. They think it's something you can see at 20 paces, something obvious and over-the-top, like the Nazis Jack Kirby drew for Marvel Comics; you always knew they were evil from their craggy teeth and bad skin.
"But hate looks like a grandmother baking cookies, a teacher standing in front of the class, a preacher opening his Bible. It looks like you or me, like anybody anywhere."
"People tend to have this naive notion about hate. They think it's something you can see at 20 paces, something obvious and over-the-top, like the Nazis Jack Kirby drew for Marvel Comics; you always knew they were evil from their craggy teeth and bad skin.
"But hate looks like a grandmother baking cookies, a teacher standing in front of the class, a preacher opening his Bible. It looks like you or me, like anybody anywhere."
Perspectives
An article in the Los Angeles Times commended young people in Oakland, California for their campaign for nonviolence following the verdict in the Oscar Grant case. For another take, see Heather Mac Donald's article in the Weekly Standard.
McWhorter On NAACP And The Tea Party
John McWhorter: "Much to my surprise, I'm with Benjamin Jealous of the NAACP on this Tea Party business this week."
"The Myth of 'Acting White' and the Achievement Gap"
Check out this piece by Latoya Peterson in the Root.
Honorary Degree To Be Awarded To Mary Price Walls
In 1950 Mary Jean Price (now Mary Price Walls), salutatorian of Lincoln High School in Springfield, Missouri, applied to Southwest Missouri State College in Springfield. Her application to the college, the first ever from a black student, was denied; she never attended college. On July 30 she will receive an honorary degree from the school (now Missouri State University).
Vernon J. Baker, Rest In Peace
Vernon J. Baker, the only surviving African-American recipient of the Medal of Honor for his actions during World War II, has died at the age of 90.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Sign Of The Times?
From ABC News: "The allure of the blockbuster 'Twilight' books and movies appears to have spawned a troubling trend: Teen couples are biting one another to show affection, sometimes biting so hard they draw blood."
Rest In Peace Walter Hawkins And Hank Jones
Gospel artist Walter Hawkins and jazz pianist Hank Jones have died.
He Said What?
From the USA Today: Responding to Cleveland Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert's (critical and harsh) letter to Cav fans following LeBron James decision to play for the Miama Heat, Jesse Jackson stated that Gilbert's "feelings of betrayal personify a slave master mentality. He sees LeBron as a runaway slave."
Jason Whitlock has criticized Jackson and those who agree with him. "We look foolish. We look hypocritical. We come across like people who have little genuine interest in seeing racial prejudice disappear and more like people who just want it to swing in our favor."
Jason Whitlock has criticized Jackson and those who agree with him. "We look foolish. We look hypocritical. We come across like people who have little genuine interest in seeing racial prejudice disappear and more like people who just want it to swing in our favor."
Removing The Simkins Name From Residence Hall
University of Texas president Bill Powers will propose that the university's Simkins Residence Hall be renamed. William Simkins, who taught at the university's law school from 1899 to 1929, has been linked to the KKK.
The "Black Y"
The Evanston, Illinois YMCA, known as the "black Y," "served as the heart of the African-American community for more than 50 years after opening in 1914."
Mickey D's Hip-Hop Menus And Ads
From Bloomberg: "The music industry has long sold black culture to white Americans. Now McDonald's Corp. is doing much the same. It's taking cues from blacks, Hispanics and Asians to develop menus and advertising, in an effort to encourage middle-class whites to buy smoothies and snack wraps as avidly as they consume hip-hop and rock 'n' roll."
Justice Thomas And McDonald v. Chicago
In a Washington Post column Courtland Milloy discusses the Supreme Court's decision in the McDonald v. Chicago gun rights case and focuses on the "scorcher of an opinion" by Justice Clarence Thomas "that reads like a mix of black history lesson and Black Panther Party manifesto . . ."
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Verdict In Oscar Grant Case
Johannes Mehserle has been found guilty of involuntary manslaughter in the shooting death of Oscar Grant III.
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Limbaugh Racializes President Obama And Oprah
According to Rush Limbaugh, Barack Obama "wouldn't have been voted president if he weren't black," and Oprah Winfrey has "a lot of money because she's black."
Michael Steele's Gaffes
Republican Party chair Michael (What Up) Steele has said and done some interesting things. Some of his greatest hits are noted here.
The Oldest Living Pullman Porter
Lee Wesley Gibson, the oldest surviving Pullman porter, is 100 years old.
Dahlia Lithwick On The GOP And Thurgood Marshall
In this Slate posting Dahlia Lithwick discusses two tactical mistakes made by Senate Republicans who criticized Thurgood Marshall during the Kagan confirmation hearing.
Honoring Carl Brashear
Carl Brashear, the United States Navy's first master diver who happened to be black, was recently honored by American Legion Post 249 in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Jack Johnson v. Jim Jeffries
"The Karate Kid"
While watching the movie "The Karate Kid" with her 8-year-old son, Lonnie O'Neal Parker saw "something new. Jaden Smith was playing a black boy in three domensions: vulnerable, contemplative and in possession of a wholly formed interior world."
The Fourth Of July
Frank Rich's recent NYT column, "Fourth of July 1776, 1964, 2010," should be read. A snippet: "But the story of America and race is hardly resolved, and progress is not inexorable."
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Monday, July 5, 2010
Recommended
Jerry Kang & Kristin Lane, Seeing Through Colorblindness: Implicit Bias and the Law, forthcoming in the UCLA Law Review.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
The Conservatism Of Thurgood Marshall?
In The Wall Street Journal Juan Williams asks, "Was Thurgood Marshall a conservative?"
He's Back
Mel Gibson has issues. Check out this Radaronline story about "one of the most explosive, racist and vile outbursts by a celebrity ever caught on tape."
Acting White
John McWhorter addresses the "acting white" phenomenon in the context of public school desegregation.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
From "The Root"
"The Down-Low Delusion": On "The View" television show, "comedians-turned-talking heads" D.L. Hughley and Sheri Shepherd made statements concerning "down low" African-American men and HIV infections among African-American women. Hughley: "They are getting it from men who are on the down low." Shepherd: "Thw down low is African-American men who have sex with men and then have sex with their girlfriends--or their wives. They're husbands, as well. It's very prevalent in the African-American community. Very." Kellee Terrell's Root article comments that "neither one of these comedians-turned-talking heads is an AIDS expert," and that "nowadays, having expertise (or an ounce of knowledge on a topic) is not mandatory for a media platform. Anyone with a camera aimed at them can spout off at the mouth, claiming that fiction is fact, and it goes completely unchallenged." While "closeted black men exist, . . . contrary to popular belief, the DL is not a major force in the rise of HIV infections among black women in this country."
"Trashing Thurgood Marshall": Sherrilyn Ifill writes that "Republican members of the [Senate Judiciary] committee used their opeing statements to unleash an orchestrated disparagement of the record and legacy of Supreme Court justice and civil rights icon Thurgood Marshall . . . The invocation of Marshall (35 times by Republicans) was a surprising new low, even for the shameless opportunism of modern confirmation hearings."
"Trashing Thurgood Marshall": Sherrilyn Ifill writes that "Republican members of the [Senate Judiciary] committee used their opeing statements to unleash an orchestrated disparagement of the record and legacy of Supreme Court justice and civil rights icon Thurgood Marshall . . . The invocation of Marshall (35 times by Republicans) was a surprising new low, even for the shameless opportunism of modern confirmation hearings."
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