The Most Racist Campaign in Decades, and What It Demands of Us

Photo: Getty Images/Mark Wilson
by Rinku Sen ShareThis | Print | Comment (12)
Thursday, October 28 2010, 10:41 AM EST Tags: 2010 Elections, activism, post-race, voting
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If the election of 2008 was a referendum on race, the midterms are feeling like a recount. The dominant political discourse of 2008 centered on an improbable question: Could a black man overcome decades’ worth of conservative fear mongering about scary, criminal, lazy black people and win a majority of voters? Today, things have changed. Now, the question is whether invoking scary, criminal, lazy Latinos and Muslims can incite enough conservative voters to reverse the Democrats’ 2008 gains.

Across the country, candidates are competing for the title of Best Immigrant Basher and Most Opposed to Mosques. Republican candidates have vowed that, if they win, they will turn these campaign-trail memes into congressional hearings and use them to block reforms critical to all Americans in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis. Democratic candidates, for their part, have been deafeningly silent on the subject and have vowed—well, nothing. Today’s political landscape is as frightening as 2008’s was hopeful.

Let’s review the last two years in racial politics. Post inauguration, there was an immediate escalation of the birther and Obama-as-secret-Muslim madness, much encouraged and amplified by Fox News and the fringe tea partiers it elevated to the mainstream. That brought us memorable moments like people spitting on black congressmembers and brandishing signs that were alarming for many reasons, none of them having to do with bad spelling. Rep. Joe Wilson called the president a liar during his health care address to Congress, accusing him of creating reform that would let undocumented immigrants access care (which, sadly, he didn’t). ACORN, an organization that has registered hundreds of thousands of people of color to vote over its 40-year history, was attacked for supposedly supporting prostitution by a fraudulent “journalist” dressed in racist pimp drag. Congress summarily de-funded the group, just before it was vindicated on every charge.

That was all before this election season got into swing and candidates went to new lengths to demonize people of color. During the California primary, three Republican gubernatorial candidates pinned all their hopes on vilifying Latino immigrants as criminals. Republican congressional candidates forced the nation into weeks of silly debate about the Park 51 project. They equated Islam with violence and questioned the patriotism of all Muslim Americans, helping to fuel a rash of attacks on mosques nationwide and a threatened Quran burning that spiraled into an international crisis. South Asian Americans Leading Together released a report this week documenting dozens of horrible statements attacking South Asian candidates. South Carolina State Sen. Jake Knotts called Republican gubernatorial candidate Nikki Haley “[a] fucking raghead,” adding, “[w]e got a raghead in Washington; we don’t need one in South Carolina.”

Meanwhile, voter suppression schemes are in full swing. Republican strategist Robert de Posada has launched a campaign in Nevada to discourage Latinos from voting at all, nominally because neither party is better than the other on immigration reform. In Illinois, Wisconsin and other contentious states, tea party movement activists have launched “voter integrity” campaigns in which they plan to harass people at the polls who they think might be voting illegally—meaning, they’ll profile Latinos, as well as black people.

Republican congressional leadership has pledged to amplify all of these conversations if it gains control. Senate Minorty Leader Mitch McConnell has called for hearings on the 14th Amendment’s birthright citizenship clause, as have several other Republicans in both the Senate and the House. And if campaign ads are to be believed, that’s just the beginning of what the ascendant GOP is planning for brown immigrants. From Sharron Angle in Nevada to David Vitter in Louisiana, this election has been marred by some of the most openly racist campaigning we’ve seen in decades. Angle has aired at least two ads juxtaposing white youth in classrooms with thuggish-looking Latino men, assuring voters whose “side” she’s on.

The head of Tea Party Nation, one of the largest groups* in the movement, has urged members to get rid of Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison because he’s Muslim. And even Orange County Democrat Rep. Loretta Sanchez, who is fighting to keep her seat, got on Univision and pit her Latino base against their more conservative Vietnamese neighbors in starkly racial terms.

This is the state of our politics. This is where things have arrived in post-race America. We’re at a place where congressmembers demean crucial, inventive public policy with racist nicknames, like the one Iowa Rep. Steve King came up with to stop the expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program: Socialized, Clintonesque, Hillarycare for Illegals and Their Parents. Or where President Obama’s choice to co-chair his deficit commission, Alan Simpson, compares Social Security to a “cow with 310 million tits.” That wasn’t an offense that warranted Simpson’s firing; he was given a benefit of the doubt the White House could not extend to Van Jones and Shirley Sherrod.

The Simpson comparison is apt. Throughout the past two years, Democrats have done woefully little to challenge the racism Republicans, tea partiers and Fox News have poured into the public discourse. Indeed, as with Jones, Sherrod and ACORN, the party’s timidity has often fueled the fire. If the Democrats lose next week, it’s entirely likely they will be driven even further to the right for fear of appearing soft on, well, communities of color.

This election is about something more than who will control Congress. Yes, we must all vote our consciences come Tuesday—vote and get everyone you know who is eligible to do the same. Vote early so that you can spend all day Tuesday turning out other people. But if you think racist scapegoating isn’t a replacement for forward thinking policy, then your participation cannot end when you leave the voting booth.

Regardless of who wins this election, it will have plunged us further still into the dark place in which people of color are defined as the nation’s problem rather than as the lifeblood of its future. We will have been driven deeper into a hole in which fear mongering makes possible policy choices that undermine everybody’s future. Republicans are certain to stick to their thus-far successful playbook. Democrats have shown no sign that they’ll challenge that strategy for what it is. So it will be up to all of us to demand both parties do better.

*A previous version of this post incorrectly identified the Tea Party Nation as the largest group in the movement.

One Woman's Costume Is Another Woman's Nightmare

The idea of brown women being over-sexed and improper, and thus more willing sexual participants for non-brown men, is an old and pervasive one. It's particularly clear looking at the costumes available for women. Pocahontas wears an up-to-there dress, Flamenco dancers bear a midriff, and a bush woman may get nothing more than a loin cloth. Perpetuating these ideas with hyper-sexual costumes is a common, yet potentially dangerous thing to do.

Recently, a group of non-Native women crashed the stage at a Neon Indians concert wearing headdresses and little more than pasties to cover their boobs. Adrienne of Native Appropriations dissected their actions, writing, "Native women have been highly sexualized throughout history and in pop culture." Pulling examples from Pocahontas, Peter Pan's Tiger Lily, and the Land o' Lakes mascot, Adrienne summarizes that the "sexy squaw" stereotype and subsequent appropriations are dangerous for non-fictional Native women, considering that "1 in 3 Native women will be raped in their lifetime," and "70% of sexual violence against Native women is committed by non-Natives." Compare that figure to the 1 in 6 overall American female population who is a victim of rape.

Adrienne also wrote that "this is not just about cultural appropriation. This is about a serious, scary, and continuing legacy of violence against women in Indian Country." A lot of what Adrienne wrote could just as easily apply to other women of color. Consider the "Chiquita Banana" stereotypes of Latinas, oversexed black Jezebels, or the seemingly pliant and sexually subversive Japanese geisha. All of those stereotypical costumes correlate with a tame, sexually pure image of white women, like the European colonist with her full-length skirt, the Scarlett O'Hara on the plantation. Of course, there are also sexy stereotypes for white women, but most aren't ethnicity-specific and most people don't routinely lump all white women into one category.

The fact that Native women are most commonly assaulted by non-Native men is not surprising to me, but does add a historical slant to the idea of how harmful cultural appropriation can be for women. Historically, men have used the implied "natural" sluttiness of women of color as justification for rampant rape or not-really-consensual relationships with women of color, particularly Native women who came into contact with colonists.

Appropriation is bad in any case, but when it mixes with race-based sexual assault, it's just plain inexcusable.

Sweden alarmed by series of 'racist' shootings

BBC News, Malmo

Police believe the unsolved attacks could be connected
A string of 19 unsolved shootings - all of which appear to be racially motivated - are sending shockwaves through Sweden's immigrant population.

"It was last year," he said, "New Year's Eve, and there were people in there, drinking tea and writing greetings cards.

"Then one of them felt a kind of rush of air, and splinters of glass on the back of his neck. The police later found a bullet embedded in a piece of furniture."

This is not the worst thing that has happened at the mosque. Mr Becirov, its director, also remembers an arson attack that caused severe damage in 2003.

But the shot fired at the mosque late last year is now being re-evaluated.

Could it form part of a wider series of unexplained attacks that the police in Malmo are now hoping the public can help solve?

'Fear in all of us'
The announcement last week by police that a string of unsolved shootings might be connected is causing deep concern in this city, where almost half the population has an immigrant background.

Continue reading the main story

“
Start Quote

If you're not blond, if you're not an original Swedish person, if you're an immigrant like me, that's it for you”

Jamal Yusuf
The attacks that police are investigating have all taken place in the past year and have all been aimed at people who look as though they might be immigrants. Of those 19 shootings, one person has been killed and eight have been injured.

Many fear the shootings could be the work of one man.

"He's putting fear in all of us who are not Swedish," says 27-year-old Jamal Yusuf, who came to Sweden in 1992 from Somalia.

"If you're not blond, if you're not an original Swedish person, if you're an immigrant like me, that's it for you."

Mr Yusuf lives in Rosengaard, a 1960s development of apartment blocks, whose 20,000 inhabitants almost all have an immigrant background.

It is said that more than 100 languages are spoken here. It's the place the Swedish international footballer of Balkan parentage, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, grew up.

Not far from Rosengaard on one of the main roads leading into the city is a small corner shop, where Naser Yazdanpanah works 13 hours a day partly as a tailor and partly as a barber.

"Only two days off a year," he boasts, "Christmas Day and New Year's Day."


A shot was fired at the Islamic Centre last year
Mr Yazdanpanah came to Sweden from Iran 38 years ago and has become something of a local hero in the past few days, judging from the number of bouquets of flowers people have sent him.

"I was doing some ironing at the back of the shop when I heard this noise, and I went out to see what was happening," he says.

"There was a man out there so I grabbed him and asked him what he was doing. He headbutted me and broke my tooth, and then ran off."

Whether this is the man the Malmo police are looking for is unclear, but they later found a bullet lodged in the window sill at the back of Naser's shop.

'Laser Man'
Shootings are not uncommon in Malmo - a lot of people here talk about how easy it is to get hold of a gun if you want one - but the police say there's been an escalation in recent weeks and that is why they decided to warn the public and ask for their help.

They have set up a special investigation unit and have brought in help from Stockholm.

Continue reading the main story
“
Start Quote

There are some similarities with the early 1990s. The first and most obvious is that we once again have a right-wing, xenophobic party in the parliament”

Gellert Tamas
Writer
Among those now working the case is a man expert in psychological profiling - a man it is hoped can get inside the gunman's head by looking at patterns of behaviour.

He also brings with him uncomfortable echoes of the past, because he previously helped bring one of Sweden's most notorious criminals to book.

That was in the early 1990s when a man armed with a rifle was stalking the streets of Stockholm shooting at immigrants.

His weapon was equipped with a laser sight and some of his victims noticed a spot of red light on their clothes shortly before they were shot. He quickly became known as Lasermannen, the Laser Man.

His name was John Ausonius. He is now serving a life sentence for his crimes, and is also the subject of a book by the Stockholm-based writer Gellert Tamas.

In a series of interviews in prison he spoke of how he felt inspired by a new right-wing party with a strong disapproval of immigration that had recently been elected to the Swedish parliament.

"He said that he felt a kind of moral and political support for what he did," remembers Mr Tamas.

'Xenophobic party'
Sweden had parliamentary elections last month, which resulted for the first time in the Sweden Democrats winning seats in parliament.

They too are calling for restricted immigration and they have an apocalyptic vision of a Muslim takeover in Europe.


"We should be quite clear about one thing," says Mr Tamas.

"We don't know who's doing the shooting, we don't know if it's one person or several people. We don't know anything about his or their motives".

"But we can look at the general atmosphere and here there are some similarities with the early 1990s. The first and most obvious is that we once again have a right-wing, xenophobic party in the parliament."

The Sweden Democrats deny they are xenophobic and have indeed put up a reward for information leading to an arrest in Malmo.

But there is speculation in the city that whoever is doing the shooting may in some way feel inspired by recent political developments.

Support for the Sweden Democrats was significantly higher in Malmo than the national average.

The police say it is going to take time to get results, that it is a complicated enquiry and no-one should expect a quick fix.

That will not be much comfort to the small group of men gathered in the twilight outside a small basement mosque in Rosengaard after evening prayers.

"We've been told not to be outside after dark," said one. "It's time to go home."

Navajo Nation's Female Would-Be President Confronts "Buckskin Ceiling"

Lynda Lovejoy is running for president of the Navajo Nation on a platform of job creation and promotion of renewable energy. But some are making her gender an issue.

If elected Tuesday, Lovejoy promises to "tackle the issue of maintaining existing jobs, creating a business friendly environment, and expanding permanent job opportunities." According to the Times, her running mate Earl Tulley is the first environmentalist ever on a Navajo Nation presidential ticket, and together they hope to reduce the Nation's dependence on coal mining. But Lovejoy is one of the first women to be a serious contender for the presidency — though women ran in 1990 and 1998 — and some are questioning her ability to lead. According to the AP, one traditional Navajo story describes a female leader who "created chaos," and some members of the Nation believe this means women shouldn't hold power. Apparently a few even blame Lovejoy for a recent tornado.

Native American studies professor Lloyd Lee says these detractors are misinterpreting the story: "The interpretation is that women can't lead, that it creates confusion and mess. When in fact it's not meant that way at all." And her opponent Ben Shelly says gender shouldn't be a campaign issue: "Is she or he qualified to be a leader? This is not a question of gender, it's a question of leadership." Still, sexism remains an issue for women seeking tribal offices (as it does for women running for office in general). Says Cecilia Fire Thunder, the first female president of the Oglala Sioux Tribe of South Dakota, "White women face a glass ceiling. Indian women face a buckskin ceiling."

Tom the Dancing Bug: Muslim on a Plane

Tom the Dancing Bug: Muslim on a Plane

see the comic strip here

Playboy's naked yoga video puts Hindus in difficult position

Playboy publisher Hugh Hefner's has been accused of cashing in on the benefits of naked yoga


For centuries, India’s Hindu sects espoused the benefits of nudity, with holy men trekking for miles across the subcontinent wearing little more than a smile as they strive to uncover their true divine nature.

A video from Playboy featuring Sara Jean Underwood, a former Playmate of the Year, performing yoga poses, has angered Hindu elders, in what they see as the latest in a string of attempts to commercialise an ancient and spiritual practice.

“Hindus are upset over what is the misuse of the age-old and revered system of yoga by Playboy for mercantile greed, and we are urging the organisation to withdraw all its yoga-related products,” said Rajan Zed, president of the Universal Society of Hinduism.

“Yoga is one of the six systems of orthodox Hindu philosophy and it is highly revered in Hinduism. It is a serious mental and physical discipline by means of which the human soul can unite with the universal soul.”

The criticism is the latest salvo to be fired in what some dubbed the yoga wars, a series of disputes over the alleged hijacking of yoga for profit.

The yoga industry is estimated to be worth $6 billion a year in the US alone, where recently-invented variations include yoga for pets and hot nude yoga.

Money-making yogis scandalised yoga’s purists who believe that the true goal should be the attainment of moksha, a blissful release from the endless cycle of rebirth and death.

India, the birthplace of the art, is striking back at what it calls yoga theft by those who claim techniques that may date back thousands of years as their own inventions.

“Yoga deals with spirituality,” said V. K. Gupta, the head of India’s Traditional Knowledge Digital Library, a government-funded database that is in the process of recording hundreds of yoga poses to ensure that foreign gurus cannot patent them.

“Attempts to trademark the ancient property of humanity are offensive - they hurt,” he added.


Read more: http://www.news.com.au/world/playboys-naked-yoga-video-puts-hindus-in-difficult-position/story-e6frfkyi-1225943436292#ixzz13g8gKuwE

The Color of Legalized Pot? California's Prop 19 Ignites Intraracial Tension

(Oct. 26)AOL NEWS -- We all know the stereotypes: Opponents of marijuana are people with short hair, khaki pants and light skin who like a good amount of mayonnaise on their white bread, and supporters are... pretty much everyone else.

But in California, as everywhere else, the racial lines are blurry, and old stereotypes might prove a poor predictor of how the various populations in the nation's largest, most diverse state will vote when it comes to Proposition 19. As November draws near, there are increasing signs that race will play an important role in the upcoming vote on whether to legalize marijuana for recreational use by adults, though not in the ways one might expect.

According to NPR, African-American leaders in California are looking at the issue through a similar lens but coming to different conclusions. Some, most notably the NAACP, see legal marijuana as a way of curbing gang violence and racial profiling. Others see it as an availability issue that will only exacerbate drug abuse problems in already strained, predominantly black communities.

Still, in California, blacks make up only 6 percent of the electorate. By far the most powerful minority vote comes from the Hispanics, who at 36.6 percent of the state's population may be well on their way to becoming the majority. A prominent member of a large Hispanic group named League of United Latin American Citizens has come out in support of the ballot initiative -- not due to the stereotypes featured in this strikingly racist LA Weekly article but in the hopes that legalized marijuana will hurt the powerful Mexican drug cartels and curb border violence (an argument which with the Rand Corp. takes major issue, as we've pointed out).

But support for Proposition 19 among Hispanic voters seems to be failing along with the rest of the population's -- from 63 percent support in September to 51 percent opposition in October, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Predictions and polls based on "likely voters" become difficult when dealing with such a sweeping matter of personal interest to so many people in a state, however. Despite little organized funding, Proposition 19 has become the most widely covered ballot initiative in the country, and there's no telling how the particular nature of what seems to be a grass-roots campaign will affect the polls in November.

Of course, some stereotypes refuse to die, though they may be based more popular lore than skin color: e.g. Ziggy Marley, son of legendary revolutionary and tokist Bob Marley, supports Proposition 19.

SCIENCE AND FAITH IN THE BLACK COMMUNITY

by Guest Contributor Hemant Mehta, originally published at Friendly Athiest

Howard University recently hosted a panel of atheists to discuss the topic of “Science and Faith in the Black Community” — certainly a topic that needs far more attention that it has received in the past.

The event was sponsored by the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science and the panelists included Richard Dawkins, Anthony Pinn, Sikivu Hutchinson, and Todd Stiefel. Mark Hatcher, the president of the Secular Students at Howard University, was the moderator:

Professor Anthony Pinn, Religious Studies at Rice University: “This is an ideal time and this event is an important opportunity to stress the importance for African Americans to critically engage the world and, through reasonable means, assess the issues impinging upon quality of life for African Americans across the country.”

Dr. Sikivu Hutchinson, noted author and activist: ”The Black Church’s policing of the bodies and destinies of black women and the lives of black gays and lesbians represents a bankrupt ‘morality’ which is just as pernicious as that of the Religious Right…if being black and being Christian are synonymous, then being black, female and religious (whatever the denomination) is practically compulsory. Insofar as atheism and humanism provide an implicit rejection of both black patriarchy and ‘authentic’ blackness, those who would dare to come out of the closet as atheists are potential race traitors.”

I only had a chance to watch the beginning, but I can’t wait to sit down and see the entire thing.

In the meantime, any thoughts on what they discuss in the video? Any parts we should watch in particular? (Please leave a timestamp if that’s the case!)

NPR CEO sorry for how she handled Juan Williams firing

NPR CEO Vivian Schiller sent an e-mail to employees apologizing for the way she handled the firing of Juan Williams after his comments on Fox News' Bill O'Reilly show about Muslims, but also insisted she believes the company still made the right call.

Fox News has assailed NPR for its handling of the situation, calling it an assault on free speech and stoking GOP pundits and potential presidential candidates to demand that NPR's government funding be cut.

NPR posted the e-mail on their news blog, "The Two-Way." It reads:

"Dear Colleagues,

"I want to apologize to you for not doing a better job of handling the termination of our relationship with Juan Williams. While we stand firmly behind that decision, I regret that we did not take the time to better prepare our messaging and to provide you with the tools to cope with the fallout from this episode. As I’m telling our Member stations in a separate memo today, I also regret that this happened when the staff and volunteers of many stations were deeply engaged in pledge drives.

"This was a decision of principle, made to protect NPR’s integrity and values as a news organization. Juan's comments on Fox News last Monday were the latest in a series of deeply troubling incidents over several years. In each of those instances, he was contacted and the incident was discussed with him. He was explicitly and repeatedly asked to respect NPR's standards and to avoid expressing strong personal opinions on controversial subjects in public settings, as that is inconsistent with his role as an NPR news analyst. After this latest incident, we felt compelled to act.  I acknowledge that reasonable people can disagree about timing: whether NPR should have ended our relationship with Juan earlier, on the occasion of other incidents; or whether this final episode warranted immediate termination of his contract.

"In any event, the process that followed the decision was unfortunate — including not meeting with Juan in person — and I take full responsibility for that. We have already begun a thorough review of all aspects of our performance in this instance, a process that will continue in the coming days and weeks.

"The news and media world is changing swiftly and radically; traditional standards and practices are under siege. This requires us to redouble our attention to how we interpret and live up to our values and standards. We will also review and re-articulate our written ethics guidelines to make them as clear and relevant as possible for staff, Member stations and the public, and we will look for productive ways to include many of you in that endeavor.

"It was clear from Friday's all staff meeting that you have deep feelings about NPR’s culture, our commitment to diversity and how we communicate. I have deep feelings about those things too. We are working to tackle them, though clearly this latest incident has given them fresh urgency.

"In the meantime, I want to express confidence in NPR's  — in your! — integrity and dedication to the highest values in journalism, and our shared commitment to serving as a national forum for the respectful discussion of diverse ideas. They are why we will continue to earn the support of a growing audience.

"I stand by my decision to end NPR's relationship with Juan, but deeply regret the way I handled and explained it. You have my pledge that your executive team and I will reflect on all aspects of our actions, and strive to improve in the future.

"Respectfully,

"Vivian"

Report exposes links of Tea Party to racism

Posted: Monday, October 25, 2010 11:53 am

WASHINGTON - The NAACP has released a report by the Institute for Research & Education on Human Rights which details various associations between Tea Party organizations and acknowledged hate groups in the United States (teapartynationalism.com). The report comes a few days after the NAACP board ratified a resolution calling on the Tea Party to repudiate racist elements within its ranks along with a resolution calling for civility in the political discourse. Those resolutions are part of nearly 80 others on jobs, education and climate change. The national attention sparked by NAACP call this summer for the Tea Party to repudiate racist elements within the group, inspired the Tea Party leadership to purge some outspoken racist elements including Tea Party Express chairman Mark Williams well known for racist rants. The new report details ongoing links between Tea Party organizations and various white supremacist groups, anti-immigrant organizations, and independent militias. In addition, five of the six groups are headed by "birthers," people who deny President Obama's citizenship. "These groups and individuals are out there, and we ignore them at our own peril," stated NAACP President and CEO Benjamin Todd Jealous. "They are speaking at Tea Party events, recruiting at rallies and in some cases remain in the Tea Party leadership itself. The danger is not that the majority of Tea Party members share their views, but that left unchecked, these extremists might indirectly influence the direction of the Tea Party and therefore the direction of our country: moving it backward and not forward." The report analyzes each of the six most active Tea Party organizations. Drawing from Tea Party literature and websites, as well as original statistical analysis, the authors provide demographic information and specific in stances of racist ties. It also offers interactive maps showing where Tea Party membership is located within the United States. It outlines instances of intolerance and extremism. An addendum details local Tea party leaders who have direct ties to white supremacist groups. The TeaParty.org faction is led by the executive director of the Minuteman Project, a nativist organization that has in the past been associated with the murder of migrant Mexican workers as part of its vigilante "border operations." Roan Garcia-Quintana, "advisor and media spokesman" for the 2010 Tax Day Tea Party and member of ResistNet, also serves on the National Board of Directors of the Council of Conservative Citizens (CofCC), the lineal descendent of the Council of White Citizens. In Texas, Wood County Tea Party leader Karen Pack was once listed as an "official supporter" of Thom Robb's Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a modern-day white supremacist organization. In addition to the report, the NAACP has been running Tea Party Tracker, a website that monitors instances of racism and other forms of extremism within the Tea Party movement. You can visit it at www.tea­party tracker.org. This article was originally published in the October 25, 2010 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper

Reynolds' racial remarks stun forum audience

Thu, 10/21/2010 - 9:40am | Tom Kacich 

Other Related Content

• GOP calls on Reynolds to withdraw for 'gross stereotypes of minorities'

CHAMPAIGN – The Republican candidate for state Senate in the 52nd District said Wednesday night that black men "find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education."

Al Reynolds, 65, of Danville made the remarks at a candidate forum at the Champaign City Building. The forum was co-sponsored by the League of Women Voters and the Champaign County NAACP.

Reynolds' comments came in response to a question about increasing the number of black and Latino students at the University of Illinois.

"I've been in the city and the dichotomy of the women and the men in the minorities, there is a difference in the fact that most minority women, either the single parent or coming from a poor neighborhood, are motivated more so than the minority men," he said. "And it's a pretty good reason. Most of the women who are single parents have to find work to support their family. The minority men find it more lucrative to be able to do drugs or other avenues rather than do education. It's easier.

"We need to provide ways that are more incentive, other than just sports avenues, for the men for the minorities to want to go to college and get an education and better themselves before the women have to support them all."

The audience, which at that time numbered only about 25, seemed stunned.

A few minutes later Reynolds' opponent, state Sen. Mike Frerichs, D-Champaign, addressed his opponents' comments.

"I've been in this community for a long time now. I've been working in this community for a long time and I've worked with a lot of African-American men. They're not pursuing careers in sports. They're not trying to sell drugs. They're trying to support their families. They're trying to be good people," he said.

"I've attended church around here. There are good families around here. There are some obstacles placed in their way and the state needs to tear them down. But I've met a lot of good people in this area and I don't think we should stereotype them all like that."

Frerichs' remarks received sustained applause from the audience, which included a number of African-Americans.

After the forum had ended, Reynolds repeated his comments.

"Look at the number of black men who opt out of getting a job and opt out of higher education. They don't even make it out of high school because the lucrative drug trade is so rampant that it's just easy for them to fall into that. What are the avenues for the black man to get out of the ghetto? He becomes a star athlete or he does drugs. I mean very few men of the black race get out of that ghetto through education. The women do. The women do because, number one, they're forced to because they don't have anybody to take care of them. They do a good job. A lot of the women are very good about getting out and getting an education. The men just have a more ... you know, the lure of high money because it's high money in drugs without having to pay the price of going to school."

Reynolds is the former head of the East Central Illinois Tea Party. He became the Republican nominee by way of a write-in campaign last spring.

Daniel Dae Kim, Harry Shum Jr on Being Working Asian Actors

• 

• OCTOBER 25, 2010, 6:45 PM ET

SDAFF

Ellen Wong, Aaron Yoo, Daniel Dae Kim and co-moderator Leonardo Nam

On Sunday, Asian-American actors Daniel Dae Kim (”Hawaii Five-O”), C. S. Lee (”Dexter”), Harry Shum Jr. (”Glee”), Ellen Wong (”Scott Pilgrim vs. The World”), and Aaron Yoo (”Friday the 13th”) talked casting, graduate school and stereotypes at the Asian Americans in Hollywood panel at the San Diego Asian Film Festival.

In particular, each of the actors stressed that their current status as recognizable faces didn’t happen overnight. Lee and Kim both studied acting at graduate school (Lee at Yale and Kim at NYU; the former even asked latter for advice about where he should go), and Shum Jr explained that he first moved to Los Angeles in 2001 to act. After realizing he could “kinda dance,” he built up his skills and his dancing ultimately took over. (For “Glee” fans, he added: No, he doesn’t really sing as badly as Mike Chang does, and yes, there will a continuing storyline for his character this season).

The actors also emphasized the importance of getting more Asian faces into not only the realms of directing and producing, but also the executive/studio ranks of major tv and film studios, so that actors have more minority voices fighting for accurate representation. Though the success of films like “Slumdog Millionaire” can open the door to more projects featuring Asian and South Asian actors, the truth is that racial barriers still exist and are a point of discussion. For example, Kim — who was awarded the festival’s “Influential Asian American Artist” award — told that audience that he was currently in the midst of discussing what race the love interest of his “Hawaii Five-O” character Detective Chin Ho Kelly should be — a conversation that was more difficult that he had initially thought. He noted that while he was excited that race was a topic of discussion, the decision was more difficult than he originally thought, because he realized that the ultimate choice would have cultural ramifications. He then took a quick poll of the audience to see if they thought Kelly should be with another Asian, another non-Asian minority, or a Caucasian woman. (The reply was weighted toward the first two options.)

To counter-balance Kim’s point, Lee related a story about how he had to fight with one of the writers of “Dexter” to allow his character, Vince Masuka, to actually get the girl on his show — a rare occurrence for Asian characters. Lee told the SDAFF audience that the writer told him it would be more funny if Masuka was never able to get a date, but the Korean-American actor held his ground and argued that it would be better for the overall storyline if his character did manage to score with the ladies. “He may have to pay for the girl,” said Lee of Masuka, “but he should still get the girl.”

“DON’T VOTE” AD FOR LATINOS

by Latoya Peterson

As we creep closer and closer to November 2nd, one thing is clear: this year is the year of using minorities. We’re every body’s scapegoat up in here.

Farai Chideya is back, with a new Pop and Politics Radio special, “Race, Rage, and Reconciliation.” It’s available in podcast form here. The summary explains:

Chideya and team go to Florida to talk about the ways the American Dream is colliding with reality, and what it means in the voting booth. Chideya speaks with Colonel Allen West, a black Tea Party candidate; residents of a historic black community, where the land has been contaminated by industrial toxins, who say business and politicians have abandoned them; Muslim-Americans in Gainesville; and victors and victims of the foreclosure crisis.

While get out the vote efforts are ramping up, conservative group Latinos for Reform is displaying a counter message: Don’t Vote.

http://www.racialicious.com/2010/10/25/political-round-up-farai-chideya-kimberle-crenshaw-dont-vote-ad-for-latinos-chinese-professor-ad-and-response-minutemen-border-angels/

NPR spoke to frontman Robert Deposada, who mentioned that staying away from the polls isn’t exactly what he meant:

In an interview Wednesday, he said the message is to boycott politicians who haven’t lived up to their promises. He said there’s no attempt to suppress the vote. But there was a problem fitting everything into the 60-second time frame.

“The last part of the ad, the tag line, said, ‘Don’t vote for those who betrayed you.’ And because of timing, we decided to cut that ‘for those who betrayed you,’ because we thought that the message was very clear in the rest of the ad,” Deposada said. He takes “full responsibility” for the editing job, he said.

This is the first ad by Latinos for Reform this election cycle. Two years ago, the group ran an ad alleging that candidate Obamadiscriminated against Latinos.

As much as I am loathe to engage with someone who likes to stoke interracial tensions for cheap political gains, Deposada does have a point when he says:

Deposada said Wednesday that Republicans have written off the Hispanic community. And while he’s bashing Reid, he said that doesn’t mean he’s supporting Angle, who has aggressively courted the anti-immigration vote. “Do you prefer to be stabbed in the back or clubbed over the head? I think both are irresponsible, both are horrible options.”

Yep, brown folks have crappy options – half-assed frienemies or straight up enemies. But then Deposada says:

“But, you know what? Sharron Angle is not going to be in a leadership post,” Deposada said — which means at least she wouldn’t control the flow of legislation, as Reid has done.

How is that helpful? Sigh. Moving on…

Jenn over at Reappropriate has been keeping close tabs on the Chinese Professor attack ads. Citizens Against Government Waste imagines a future where a Chinese professor lectures a class on how America betrayed it’s core values, tried to tax and spend spend its way out of a recession, and ultimately ended up under Chinese control (this video has subtitles):

http://www.racialicious.com/2010/10/25/political-round-up-farai-chideya-kimberle-crenshaw-dont-vote-ad-for-latinos-chinese-professor-ad-and-response-minutemen-border-angels/

Jenn notes:

It is a future where non-Chinese Asian students flock to Beijing universities so that they may listen in rapt attention to a Chinese professor speak badly accented Mandarin, where the wearing of tapshoes are mandatory, where boy band haircuts are required, where a band follows you around playing a constant stream of ominous music, where everyone keeps a picture of a Wall St. street sign on their iPad desktop, and where young people are forced to laugh hysterically at un-funny jokes. Oh, and where the Chinese Communist government, who apparently still reveres images of Chairman Mao, has suddenly decided to rail against government over-reach.

However, the power of the internet is mighty – and Asian American bloggers are fighting back. Angry Asian Man (in conjunction with Reappropriate, 8 Asians, and Disgrasian) points to a new contest to remix this video:

I know there are a lot of smart and talented folks who can take this video, add your own alternate subtitles, and flip the damn thing inside out. A collective community effort that produces all kinds of funny parodies would be a much more powerful response to this ad than just yelling and hollering about it.

Download the .ZIP archive, including the subtitle-stripped .MOV file and .RTF text file transcript of the original “Chinese Professor” video.

Get the video file, write a hilarious alternate monologue for the Evil Chinese Professor, re-subtitle the footage, add a call-to-action voiceover at the end, and upload your parody to a video sharing service like YouTube or Vimeo.

Then send the link to evilchineseprofessor@angryasianman.com. The best three videos as judged by the sponsoring bloggers will win some fabulous as-yet-undetermined prizes. The deadline to submit is November 27, which happens to be Bruce Lee’s birthday.

So far, so good:

http://www.racialicious.com/2010/10/25/political-round-up-farai-chideya-kimberle-crenshaw-dont-vote-ad-for-latinos-chinese-professor-ad-and-response-minutemen-border-angels/

The money quote:

“But just to be safe, they manufactured fear of a foreign devil. But who’s stupid enough to fall for that one again?”

We’ve got two videos from GRIT TV. The first one features Laura Flanders speaking to Dr. Jocelyn Elders about medical marijuana and masturbation. The summary states:

Dr. Joycelyn Elders is no stranger to making controversial statements in public, so her support of California’s Proposition 19, the marijuana legalization ballot initiative, shouldn’t be surprising. After all, years ago she was ousted as Bill Clinton’s Surgeon General after noting that a discussion of masturbation should be part of educating young people on avoiding HIV infection.

Elders joins us via Skype from Arkansas, where she is professor emeritus at the University of Arkansas School of Medicine and an associate at Arkansas Children’s Hospital, to discuss marijuana legalization, the return of masturbation as a campaign issue, and the ongoing struggle for universal health care in the U.S.

And there’s another with Kimberle Crenshaw, on the pitfalls of “post-racial” politics. Summary says:

We hear a lot about “post-racial” politics these days–the election of Barack Obama supposedly has led us into a post-racial age, but have we really seen anything change? Not much, notes Kimberle Crenshaw, co-founder of the African-American Policy Forum, and it’s not really new either. But a lack of a sense of history is another symptom of today’s politics, and Crenshaw notes that even black elected officials and candidates sometimes fall victim.

Crenshaw joins Laura in studio for a look at black tea party candidates, the troubles facing Adrian Fenty and other black mayors, and the problem with claims of “reverse racism.”

More GRITtv

Finally, over at the Dyson Show, I’ve been doing way too many politically focused segments.

I talked to an AWESOME black republican pundit, Sophia Nelson, about women and the GOP. Nelson is a political commentator for JET magazine. You can listenhere, segment summary is:

Women have a notable presence in this year’s mid-term elections, with female senate and gubernatorial candidates in the limelight. Political commentator Sophia Nelson joins guest host Latoya Peterson to discuss the prospect of big gains for high-profile Republican women this election season.

This is also the same episode where I get to talk to Jean Grae and they made the mistake of putting two nerdy black girls on the phone.

And we are also doing a series on immigration. This whole show was dedicated to the topic. Listen here, summary here:

Latinos have a significant stake in next week’s elections as immigration reform continues to be one of the most prominent social and political issues for this community. Guest host Latoya Peterson will be joined by Maria Teresa Kumar, executive director of Voto Latino, to discuss whether candidates are engaging or alienating Latinos in their quest to get more votes

This week, we begin our series on immigration. This issue has become a political hot potato, but we’ll explore the topic not only from the political angle but the personal as well. We start with a look at what is one of the most sensitive issues in the immigration debate: the U.S.-Mexico border. Jim Gilchrist, founder of the Minuteman Project, which advocates for tougher enforcement of immigration laws, and Enrique Morones, founder of Border Angels, which works to prevent unnecessary deaths of immigrants crossing the U.S.-Mexico border, join us for a spirited debate from both sides of the issue.

Last year, just over a million people became what the government calls “legal permanent residents,” while those who didn’t follow the laws are called “illegal.” Now, one organization is seeking to change that wording. The Applied Research Center has mounted the “Drop the I-Word” campaign. We speak to Rinku Sen, executive director of the Center and the creator of the campaign, to find out why such an effort is needed.

As an aside, the Border Angels/Minuteman Project was the first time I ever attempted to do a two person, remote interview. Don’t expect to hear a lot from me on that one, it was tough to get a word in edgewise.

Two state Supreme Court justices stun some listeners with race comments

By Steve Miletich

Seattle Times staff reporter

State Supreme Court justices Richard Sanders and James Johnson stunned some participants at a recent court meeting when they said African Americans are overrepresented in the prison population because they commit a disproportionate number of crimes.

Both justices disputed the view held by some that racial discrimination plays a significant role in the disparity.

Johnson also used the term "poverty pimp," an apparent reference to people who purportedly exploit the poor in the legal system, say those who attended the meeting.

Sanders later confirmed his remarks about imprisoned African Americans, saying "certain minority groups" are "disproportionally represented in prison because they have a crime problem."

"That's right," he told The Seattle Times this week. "I think that's obvious."

Johnson did not respond to several messages left Wednesday and Thursday with three staffers in Olympia. He also did not respond to messages left Thursday at his home and with Sanders. Johnson's staff said he was with the court in Spokane to hear cases at the Gonzaga University law school.

African Americans represent about 4 percent of Washington's population but nearly 20 percent of the state prison population. Similar disparities nationwide have been attributed by some researchers to sentencing practices, inadequate legal representation, drug-enforcement policies and criminal-enforcement procedures that unfairly affect African Americans.

Some who attended the meeting say they were offended by the justices' remarks, saying the comments showed a lack of knowledge and sensitivity.

Kitsap County District Court Judge James Riehl, who attended the meeting, said he was "stunned" because, as a trial judge for 28 years, he was "acutely aware" of barriers to equal treatment in the legal system.

Sanders, who is seeking a fourth term in the Nov. 2 general election, and Johnson, who was elected to a second term in the August primary, offered their opinions during an Oct. 7 presentation at the Temple of Justice in Olympia.

Staff from the state Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC), as well as Riehl and a social-justice advocate from the Seattle University School of Law, presented a report on improving the effectiveness of boards and commissions set up by the Supreme Court to ensure fair treatment in the courts for minorities and other groups.

Shirley Bondon, an AOC manager who oversees programs to remove barriers in the legal system, said that during the discussion she told the justices that she believed there was racial "bias in the criminal-justice system, from the bottom up."

Bondon, 50, who is African American, said Sanders told others to turn to a page in the report that listed barriers to the justice system, including age, race, disability and other factors.

Sanders asked for the name of anyone who was in prison because of one of the barriers, according to Bondon and others who attended the meeting.

Sanders also stated that he didn't believe the barriers existed, except for poverty because it might restrict the ability to afford an attorney, Bondon said.

Ada Shen-Jaffe, the Seattle University participant, responded that she didn't have names but could provide research, Bondon and Riehl said.

Shen-Jaffe, said to be traveling, couldn't be reached for comment.

Bondon said she told the group that African Americans comprise a small percentage of Washington's population but comprise a much larger percentage of the prison population.

Sanders replied that African Americans commit more crimes, Bondon and others at the meeting said.

Sanders, in an interview, said he replied with words to the effect that maybe prison statistics reflect crimes that were committed.

After Sanders' remark, Johnson said he agreed, noting that African Americans commit them against their own communities, Bondon said.

Bondon said she told Johnson that was unacceptable and that she didn't believe that to be true.

Johnson then remarked that he believed some people are taken advantage of, and in connection with that, used the term "poverty pimp," Bondon said.

Bondon said she didn't know what Johnson meant by that comment but later concluded he likely was referring to legal-service workers who provide services to the poor, particularly since Shen-Jaffe has a background in that field.

Shen-Jaffe objected to Johnson's remarks and invited Johnson to later talk informally with her about them, Bondon and others at the meeting recalled.

Johnson explained during the meeting that he had heard the term "poverty pimp" from someone else, Bondon said.

The pejorative label has generally been used to describe individuals who represent the poor for their own gain.

Justice Debra Stephens said she heard Sanders and Johnson make the comments, including Johnson using the words "you all" or "you people" when he stated that African Americans commit crimes in their own communities.

Stephens said she was surprised by the "poverty pimp" remark.

"If that were directed at me, I would have felt accused," Stephens said, adding that she doesn't believe that was Johnson's intent, but instead that he chose an unfortunate phrase.

Justice Susan Owens said she heard the comments but didn't understand what Johnson meant by "poverty pimp," though she added that she didn't believe he was directing the term at anyone in particular.

Chief Justice Barbara Madsen said she recalled that Sanders disagreed with the premise that anyone was in prison because of race and asked for a name of someone there because of race.

She also recalled Johnson said something about African Americans committing crimes in their own communities, but that she only heard later that he used the term "poverty pimp."

Madsen said she stopped the conversation because she didn't think it was productive.

Some justices said they didn't hear the comments, in part because of overlapping conversations taking place along a long table.

Riehl, the Kitsap County judge, said he was stunned that the term "poverty pimp" would be used in a meeting where the comment didn't relate to the presentation, and that it was made in front of staff and the Seattle University representative.

Johnson made clear that he didn't think the court's boards and commissions should be funded and said the meeting was costing $25,000 in people's time that could be used for better purposes, Riehl said.

"That obviously took me back a little," Riehl said.

Johnson is widely considered to be the court's most conservative justice.

Bondon, the AOC manager, in a written statement to The Seattle Times, said she was stunned by Sanders' remarks.

"I know that people in all walks of life hold biases, but it was stunning to hear a Justice of the Supreme Court make these outrageous comments in my presence," Bondon wrote.

Bondon said she took the "comments personally, as though he were saying that I and all African Americans had a predisposition for criminality and I was offended."

Bondon said she remembered thinking that she didn't need data or statistics to prove that she and other African Americans don't have a predisposition for criminality.

"Just the idea that it was necessary to disprove the assertion was sickening," Bondon said.

Johnson's pimp comment inferred that "poor people have no right to legal representation. Where's the justice in that?" Bondon wrote.

Sanders, in an interview, said he has a reputation for standing up for those accused of crimes but that he hasn't seen evidence that African Americans are disproportionately imprisoned because of race.

He said his concern was for "individuals," and that if someone is in prison for any reason other than committing the crime, "I want to hear about it."

But statistics aren't proof, he said.

Sanders, a self-described civil libertarian, said he had written court opinions making it clear that prosecutors can't dismiss prospective jurors because of race.

Seattle Times news researcher David Turim contributed to this story.

Steve Miletich: 206-464-3302 or smiletich@seattletimes.com