racism
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Justin Jones, one of the two Black Democrat representatives expelled by Republicans last week from the Tennessee House, was sworn back in.
On Monday (April 10th), members of the Nashville city council held a special session to return Jones to the legislature. After a prayer by council member Zulfat Suara for the six lives lost in the Covenant school shooting as well as those lost in a mass shooting in Kentucky that day, the vote was unanimously in favor of Jones, 36-0. An hour later, he returned to the state capitol surrounded by hundreds of supporters and took his oath on the steps.
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“I want to welcome democracy back to the people’s house,” he said after returning to his old desk. “No expulsion, no attempt to silence us will stop us, but it will only galvanize and strengthen our movement,” he said, concluding with: “Power to the people!” The move by the Nashville city council members was done so swiftly that Jones hadn’t missed a floor session of the Tennessee House.
House majority leader William Lamberth & House Republican caucus chairman Jeremy Faison issued a statement before the vote saying that “should any expelled member be reappointed, we will welcome them.” A vote to reinstate Rep. Pearson was scheduled to be held by the Shelby County Board of Commissioners in Memphis on Wednesday (April 12th). Both lawmakers have expressed that they will run in special elections to be held later this year to permanently obtain their seats.
Jones, along with Pearson and Rep. Gloria Johnson, were targeted by the Republican majority of the legislative body for expulsion last Thursday (April 6th). The vote took place a week after the three lawmakers had taken to the House floor and interrupted a session by demanding action be taken on gun violence, using megaphones to lead protesters. Jones and Pearson would be expelled through a vote, while Johnson (who is white) was spared, prompting her to cite racism as the reason her fellow Democrats were kicked out.
The move by the Republican majority of the House, something that had only been done twice since the Civil War, sparked local and nationwide outrage all the way to the White House, as President Joe Biden expressed his anger and Vice President Kamala Harris made a surprise trip to Nashville to speak at Fisk University in support of the lawmakers. Lawyers for Jones and Pearson, including former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, sent a letter warning against retaliation to House Speaker Cameron Sexton.
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Romelu Lukaku, a striker for Serie A club Inter Milan in Italy, is the first Premier League player to sign with Jay-Z’s Roc Nation Sports and has amassed fame for his exploits on the pitch. However, Romelu Lukaku, like many Black footballers before him, has endured racist taunts and Roc Nation Sports took out an ad in an Italian newspaper demanding they do better.
TMZ was the first to report on Roc Nation Sports taking out the ad in the Italian sports news daily, La Gazzetta dello Sport, which defended Romelu Lukaku and other Black footballers from the racist taunts from fans in attendance at matches.
On Tuesday (April 4), Inter Milan played against Juventus F.C. and fans in the stands made monkey noises toward Lukaku. The ad singles out how this practice has been allowed to endure for years during football (soccer) matches.
From the ad:
In professional football, Black players have been subjected to hatred during professional football games. The hatred has displayed itself in the form of monkey chants, racial slurs and banana peels tossed at the best players in the world, as the world watches, as the children watch, as the players’ families watch.
No one has faced any consequences for this heinous behavior. Nothing has changed. No action has been taken.
Roc Nation Sports put out an accompanying video demanding that fans stop the racist taunts, clearly singling out that this has been an issue for years in the game.
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Photo: Mondadori Portfolio / Getty
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Actor Bryan Cranston blasted the slogan that former President Donald Trump heavily used as racism while defending the need for critical race theory recently.
In an interview with CNN’s Chris Wallace on Sunday (February 26th), the Emmy Award-winning actor talked about why he felt that critical race theory was necessary for American society and spoke on how the slogan “Make America Great Again” used by Donald Trump during his 2016 presidential campaign can be seen as a
racist sentiment.
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“When I see ‘Make America Great Again,’ my comment is, ‘Do you accept that that could possibly be construed as a racist remark?’” the Breaking Bad actor said to Wallace. “A lot of people go, ‘How could that be racist, to make America great again?’ I said, ‘So just ask yourself from an African-American experience: When was it ever great in America for the African-American? So if you’re making it great again, it’s not including them.’”
He would continue: “It’s to teach us, in the ‘woke’ world, to open up and accept the possibilities that our privilege has created blind spots for us. Maybe I haven’t seen what’s really happening, in all my years.”
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Apparently, comedian, actor, and former Richard Nixon speechwriter Ben Stein is still pressed about Quaker Oats updating the historically racist Aunt Jemima brand and replacing it with a racially neutral and far less mammy-era-inspired brand, because conservative white people in America just really love their anti-Black nostalgia despite their insistence that America was not founded on racism.
Recently, Stein posted a video of himself reminiscing over the good old days when racist imagery on consumer products was no big deal (to white people) and no one (who was white) complained about it.
“Aunt Jemima yummy pancake syrup,” Stein said while holding a Pearl Mining Company bottle, which is Aunt Jemima’s new brand. “Now, this used to show a large African American woman chef. Because of the inherent racism of America’s corporate culture, they decided to make it a white person or maybe no person at all. But I prefer it when it was a Black person showing their incredible skill making pancakes.”
Stein appeared to mock the idea of “inherent racism” in America, while, you know, passionately expressing his love for a symbol derived from American racism. But the real question is—why is he still so salty about a decision made two years ago that he’s going out of his way to get himself dragged by the fine folks on Twitter like this?
At the end of the day, white people like Stein show off their privilege when they debate about whether or not racist imagery should be preserved they just love their various odes to Black subjugation, whether it’s a confederate monument or a racist syrup bottle. White people, including politicians, are still, in the 21st century, using “Aunt Jemima” as a slur against Black women. But folks like Stein haven’t experienced that, so, for them, it’s as simple as a “woke agenda” run amok.
Even Black folks who didn’t necessarily have a problem with the Aunt Jemima brand should take issue with white people who believe their racist traditions should trump our lived experiences. Because that’s exactly how white supremacy works.
Or, whatever, maybe it’s just syrup.
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FOX News is all but confirmed as an alleged propaganda network. Not that anyone should be surprised, but recently revealed court documents show that the network’s anchors knew guests like Rudy Giuliani were spreading lies, and they continued to hand them megaphones anyway.
The documents (actually texts) are thanks to Dominion’s lawsuit against the network. In texts shared between racist FOX talking heads Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity and Laura Ingraham, they confirm that they’re clearly aware the guests they have on their shows are right-wing “lunatics.”
Reports CNN:
The most prominent stars and highest-ranking executives at Fox News privately ridiculed claims of election fraud in the 2020 election, despite the right-wing channel allowing lies about the presidential contest to be promoted on its air, damning messages contained in a Thursday court filing revealed.
The messages, included in a legal filing as part of Dominion Voting System’s $1.6 billion lawsuit against Fox News, showed that Tucker Carlson, Sean Hannity, and Laura Ingraham brutally mocked lies being pushed by former President Donald Trump’s camp asserting that the election was rigged.
In one set of messages revealed in the court filing, Carlson texted Ingraham, saying that Sidney Powell, an attorney who was representing the Trump campaign, was “lying” and that he had “caught her” doing so. Ingraham responded, “Sidney is a complete nut. No one will work with her. Ditto with Rudy [Giuliani].”
Also in the docs were references to a source who claimed to know of election fraud due to “time travel.” Nah, we’re not kidding—that is their source.
While MAGA Twitter is doing all types of gymnastics to try to dismiss these latest revelations, FOX News is trending for all the wrong reasons. Like seriously, why is that network still getting press credentials?
Peep some of the more potent Sly Fox News slander and observations of the elite hypocrisy in the gallery.
1. Standards?
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A food company publicly apologized after students at a school in upstate New York were served a racially insensitive lunch at the beginning of Black History Month.
According to reports, students at Nyack Middle School were served chicken and waffles with a side of watermelon last Wednesday (Feb. 1), the first day of Black History Month. The original menu offerings were supposed to be Philly cheesesteaks, broccoli and fresh fruit. Students including Honore Santiago spoke out about the meal. “I was questioning because they don’t usually give watermelon,” she said.
Principal David Johnson sent out a letter to parents apologizing for the situation. “I am disappointed that Aramark would serve items that differed from the published monthly menu, especially items that reinforce negative stereotypes concerning the African-American community,” the letter read.
Johnson called the menu items “insensitive.” He contacted the school’s food provider Aramark to voice his concern and to see if this situation can be avoided in the future. “If they had served chicken and waffles by itself, I don’t know that we would be having this conversation. But the moment you add in the watermelon, that changed the whole complexion, literally,” Wilbur Aldridge of the Nyack chapter of the NAACP said.
A spokesperson from Aramark released a statement, saying: “The situation at that middle school was our mistake and never should have happened. It stands in direct contrast to who we are as a company and our longstanding commitment to Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. We have apologized for our mistake, and are working to determine how it happened and make sure it never happens again.”
The interim school superintendent, James Montesano, said that the company has committed to working with the school to have “workshops that are focused around the concept of equity and institutional racism,” involving their employees.
This wasn’t the first time that Aramark has wound up in a scandal along these lines. In 2018, students at New York University were served barbecued ribs, collard greens, cornbread, Kool-Aid and watermelon-flavored water during Black History Month. After a vocal backlash, the workers involved were fired and the company apologized. For Honore Santiago, she just has one thought about it all: “I just hope that they won’t do it again, at a different school or my school ever again.”
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A family in an Oregon suburb is speaking out about a neighbor targeting them because they’re Black – by spraying a slur on their own house.
According to reports, the Channel family has been for years dealing with the unhinged antics of a neighbor of theirs in West Linn, a suburb just south of Portland, Oregon. But the neighbor, a woman who has not been identified publicly, has ramped up her disturbing behavior and directed it toward the Channel family, who is Black by recently spray-painting the N-word on her own house.
Andre Channel spoke to local news outlets about the incident, which apparently took place on Christmas Day. He had received a call from another neighbor named Jason while traveling outside of the country. “He was like hey, just want to let you know, your neighbor wrote the n-word all across their house,” Channel said to KPTV. “This is the crossing the line for me, this is new.”
The family stated that the neighbor also directed the slur toward their son earlier in the month. A representative of the West Linn Police Department confirmed they were called to the scene, and that they spray painted over the slur with the homeowner’s consent. But Channel says that action didn’t occur until after him and other neighbors repeatedly called the police to come back. His neighbor Jason stated, “the cops have been here pretty much two or three times a week for the past two months, three months. They’re doing all they can do about it, but we all know the system is broken.”
Channel feels that law enforcement should be doing more. “It seems like we keep getting the run around in regards to there’s a process to this, a process to that,” Channel said. “My daughters shouldn’t have to be at home wondering what’s going to happen next.”
“Incidents such as this cause actual harm, both to those specifically targeted and the wider community at large. We stand firmly against hate and bigotry in all of its forms, and in solidarity with our community members,” the West Linn Police Department said in a statement.
They’ve also said that they’ve notified the Oregon branch of the Department of Justice. Andre Channel is insistent that this ugly incident won’t force him and his family to leave. “I’m not going to let one person force me out of a neighborhood in a city that I love,” he said. “We should be able to come home and feel safe, period.”
After getting booted from Twitter again last week for posting an image of a swastika, Kanye West uploaded his latest bizarre, racially charged statement on Instagram on Sunday (Dec. 4), in which the embattled artist who now goes by Ye questioned Twitter CEO Elon Musk’s heritage while suggesting he’s possibly a “genetic hybrid.”
“Am I the only one who thinks Elon could be half-Chinese?,” West asked. “Have you ever seen his pics as a child?” Musk was born in South Africa to a Canadian mother and South African father and it was unclear what West was referring to in questioning the billionaire Space X/Tesla founder’s ethnicity. The racially charged comment from the disgraced MC whose once-massive music and fashion portfolio has gone into free-fall since he began a now month-long spree of spouting antisemitic and racist statements continued with another bizarre suggestion about Musk’s genetic makeup.
“Take a Chinese genius and mate them with a South African super model and we have an elon,” Ye added. “I say an Elon because they probably made 10 to 30 Elon’s and he’s the first genetic hybrid that stuck.” Musk, whose chaotic tenure atop the Twitter org chart has seen an exodus of some prominent users and his re-platforming of formerly banned one-term president Donald Trump and accounts that promote white nationalism and neo-nazi causes, treated the West post as the kind of edgelord provocation he relishes.
“I take that as a compliment!” Musk responded of the seeming accolade to the norm-busting billionaire who has long been obsessed with artificial intelligence and exploring the limits of the human form.
West also tacked on another provocative statement, adding, “Let’s not forget about Obama.” At press time it was unclear what the latter was referring to, though he did double-down on mentioning the former president by adding, “I’m sorry for using curse words in church but I don’t have another word for Obama yet.” The post ended with a promotion for Ye’s second presidential bid.
Alongside the Insta slide, West appeared to be mocking his race-baiting in the comment to his post, writing, “On Jay Zs birthday Future president of the United States Ye uses Mark Zuckerberg’s platform to incite a mass investigation of Elon Musk’s childhood photos in the midst of Balenciagagate. I call this The theory of everything Problem solved Praise God.”
West was booted off Musk’s Twitter again last week for posting the Nazi symbol inside a Jewish star, which capped a week in which he repeatedly stated “I like Nazis” on conspiracy theorist Alex Jones’ talk show while praising reviled Nazi leader Adolf Hitler. West — who does not appear to have any new music or fashion projects to promote in the wake of his business empire’s crash — has been on a month-long media tour in which he has sparked widespread condemnation for his endless stream of antisemitic comments.
Without mentioning Ye by name, President Joe Biden issued a pointed statement on the dangers of antisemitism and the embrace of Nazis on Friday. “I just want to make a few things clear: The Holocaust happened. Hitler was a demonic figure,” Biden tweeted in a statement. “And instead of giving it a platform, our political leaders should be calling out and rejecting antisemitism wherever it hides. Silence is complicity.”
The strongly worded statement from Biden starkly contrasted with the recent scene at Donald Trump’s private Mar-a-Lago resort, where the twice-impeached president hosted Ye as well as far right activist and white nationalist Nick Fuentes, who is also known for spewing antisemitic rhetoric. Also present at the lunch that Trump hosted on the high-visibility patio at his golf club was Ye’s apparent 2024 presidential campaign manager — who has reportedly since been fired — professional right-wing troll Milo Yiannopoulos, who has been blocked from most major social media platforms for his slurs against Islam and feminism, and his embrace of antisemitic figures.
West’s repeated amplification of antisemitic tropes and insults comes amid a rising tide of such toxic rhetoric in the nation. In April, the Anti-Defamation League, which tracks anti-Semitic behavior nationwide, reported a 34% rise in anti-Semitic incidents in 2021 (to 2,717), which averaged out to more than seven such incidents per day.