http://www.inthesetimes.com/archives/tags/race/ In These Times features award-winning investigative reporting about corporate malfeasance and government wrongdoing, insightful analysis of national and international affairs, and sharp cultural criticism about events and ideas that matter. en-us Expression Engine jessica@inthesetimes.com seamus@inthesetimes.com Fri, 20 Dec 2002 11:14:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/419/rebel_yell/ Mississippi Sen. Trent Lott’s retroactive endorsement of Jim Crow apartheid, at Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party on December 5, was a rebel yell in the wrong venue. His days are numbered as majority leader and, if he follows others who have lost congressional leadership posts, he may leave the Senate altogether. Lott’s gaffe was a gift to Democrats and others seeking to show how the cynical use of racism help build the modern GOP. Ever since Lyndon B. Johnson enlisted the Democratic Party in the civil rights movement in the mid-’60s, the Republicans have attempted to exploit the white backlash. Their success is manifest in the solidly GOP South. Although many Democrats have been slow to exploit their windfall,… politics race social justice David Sirota Tue, 29 Apr 2003 09:42:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/444/throwing_away_the_key/ The Department of Homeland Security, the new cabinet post with the Teutonic inflection, was created last January to assuage Americans’ fears of future terrorist attacks. But while we focus our attention on external threats, we’re ignoring homegrown forces that imperil our nation’s security much more profoundly than suicidal Islamic cults. These forces are being generated by an incarceration epidemic that has earned this country the dubious title of the world’s largest jailer. Figures released last month by the Justice Department revealed that as of June 30, 2002, the number of inmates in American prisons and jails had exceeded 2 million for the first time in history. There were 1.35 million prisoners in state and federal prisons and an additional 665,000… civil liberties government: judiciary race social justice David Sirota Fri, 06 Jun 2003 12:15:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/452/neocon_convergences/ A funny thing happened while following the money trail of the neoconservatives who have hijacked U.S. foreign policy. The path led to a network of financial and intellectual resources that also is dedicated to neoracism. The Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation has been the economic fount for the neoconservative notions of global affairs now ascendant in the Bush administration. According to a report by Media Transparency, from 1995 to 2001 the Milwaukee-based foundation provided about $14.5 million to the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), the think tank most responsible for incubating and nourishing the ideas of the neocon movement. The Bradley Foundation also made grants totaling nearly $1.8 million to help fund the Project for the New American Century (PNAC), the… politics race social justice David Sirota Fri, 20 Jun 2003 11:30:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/457/the_end_of_race/ I’m not sure if many Americans have noticed, but the concept of race has taken some devastating hits in recent years. Everywhere one looks in academia these days—from the abstract precincts of critical theory to the hard laboratories of molecular genetics—once-mighty notions of racial taxonomy have fallen hard. The latest assault on race was a three-part PBS series, Race: The Power of an Illusion. Produced by California Newsreel, the series covers a wide range of race-related issues. But the program’s title is its major point: Racial differences are illusory. For many Americans, this is pretty radical stuff. Well before the republic was founded, the belief in racial hierarchy was deeply embedded in our national culture, and there it endures. A… media race social justice David Sirota Tue, 15 Jul 2003 11:30:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/460/affirmative_denial/ One of the primary reasons I support the congressional bill to study the feasibility of reparations for the descendants of enslaved Africans is the need to acquaint Americans with the devastating effects racial slavery has had on African-Americans. That need was never more apparent than during national discussions of the Supreme Court’s recent affirmative action rulings. In a 5-4 vote, the high court ruled that the University of Michigan law school (and thus all colleges and universities) could constitutionally consider race as a factor in admissions. The court also ruled that the school’s undergraduate admissions point system, which awards points for certain racial identities, is unconstitutional. Progressives applauded the top court’s law school ruling as a victory for the forces… civil liberties government: congress government: judiciary race social justice David Sirota Fri, 15 Aug 2003 11:31:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/467/the_summer_of_civil_rights/ The four major civil rights organizations—the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), the National Urban League (NUL), the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), and Rainbow/PUSH—have each staked out their own turf in the civil rights landscape over the years. This summer, the quartet held their annual conventions, and the media focused on how many of the nine Democratic presidential hopefuls showed up at each, and whether President Bush even acknowledged their existence. These conventions have become seasonal rites and attract less and less media coverage, as civil rights issues fade further into the background of American concerns. But these gatherings still serve as rallying points for many African-Americans who cut their teeth on the civil rights movement.… civil liberties race social justice David Sirota Fri, 13 Feb 2004 15:24:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/512/pride_before_the_fall/ It was a stunning show of hubris. An act so offensive it should have been unthinkable. Timed to cause the greatest pain and the deepest outrage. But then it was this president. And it did advance his standing among right-wing extremists. The recess appointment of Charles W. Pickering Sr. to the Fifth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals is an attack on civil rights and the progress toward social justice made in the last half-century. Equally odious is the timing—Pickering was implanted on the bench as Americans prepared to celebrate the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. You remember Pickering: He’s the federal judge in Mississippi who disapproved of the Voting Rights Act, calling the one-person, one-vote doctrine “obtrusive.” And who… government: judiciary politics race social justice David Sirota Fri, 13 Feb 2004 15:34:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/704/dixie_tricks/ After the U.S. Senate twice determined that Charles W. Pickering Sr. did not deserve promotion to a lifetime appointment on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit largely because of his lifelong opposition to civil rights, President Bush sidestepped the confirmation process and granted a recess appointment. Adding insult to injury, the president made his announcement hours before the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. Defending the integrity of the federal courts is essential for our nation, and the president’s decision to vouch so strongly for someone whose actions and temperament render him unsuitable for elevation to this important court is regrettable. The federal courts are called the guardians of the Constitution because their rulings protect the rights and… civil liberties government: judiciary politics race social justice David Sirota Tue, 17 Feb 2004 15:11:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/705/judicial_disappointments/ With a stalled economy and ongoing attacks against U.S. troops, judicial appointments seemingly lack the immediacy and scope to register among Americans’ concerns this election season. But relegating the president’s power to make lifetime appointments to the lower tiers of political consideration sets dangerous precedent—and could impact the rights of ordinary citizens for decades to come. Federal judges play a critical role on such issues as civil rights, reproductive rights, and environmental and consumer protections. And as the recess appointment of Charles W. Pickering Sr. most recently demonstrated, President Bush is bent on packing the federal courts with ideological extremists who have shown a willingness to rewrite statues, distort precedent, and misrepresent facts to justify positions against many of our… civil liberties gender government: administration government: judiciary politics race social justice David Sirota Tue, 02 Mar 2004 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/518/the_end_of_third_world_solidarity/ The Bush administration has been a disaster for America’s global image. Its cavalier dismissal of international treaties and diplomacy has tainted the entire nation as a bunch of unilateralists and hegemons. After 9/11, the Bushites’ blunt and bellicose response quickly squandered global sympathy and dismayed international police agencies. The administration’s heedless invasion of Iraq alienated allies and accelerated growth of the kind of Islamic radicalism that inspired 9/11. The image damage done by just three Bush years is surely a milestone in the history of negative PR. But one of the least-noticed changes is how this administration has altered the global image of African Americans. Through its artful deployment of National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin… activism international affairs politics race social justice David Sirota Sat, 13 Mar 2004 01:46:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/522/the_international_wrong/ The Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) seems to be the only governmental body concerned about the Bush administration’s controversial role in the recent regime change in Haiti. Jean-Bertrand Aristide, Haiti’s duly elected president, charged he was the victim of a coup d’etat February 29 that was aided and abetted by U.S. forces. “One could say that it was a geo-political kidnapping,” he said, or “terrorism disguised as diplomacy.” Aristide made these charges in a statement broadcast on Pacifica Radio’s “Flashpoints News” magazine following his arrival in the Central African Republic, after being spirited away from Haiti by gunpoint. He said U.S. officials in Port-au-Prince told him that he and his family were unlikely to survive attacks by armed rebels and that… elections government: administration international affairs politics race social justice south america David Sirota Thu, 18 Mar 2004 09:00:00 -0600 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/715/the_truth_about_leonard/ When Ka-Mook Nichols, a prominent former member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), testified last month that fellow activist Leonard Peltier bragged of shooting two FBI agents in cold blood, her words echoed throughout Indian country and beyond. For the last 27 years, Peltier has languished in federal prison, convicted of killing those agents during a shootout on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge reservation in 1975, much to the outrage of an international movement that believes he was framed. The incident occurred during a tumultuous period of violence between AIM, an Indian rights group working to improve conditions for Pine Ridge’s impoverished residents, and a corrupt local tribal government backed by the FBI. Now, Peltier’s involvement in that crime is coming… activism race social justice David Sirota Tue, 13 Apr 2004 12:45:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/412/rove_sweet_rove/ On a quiet Sunday afternoon in late March, more than a dozen yellow school buses crept up the street of a high-end Washington, D.C. neighborhood and parked in front of the home of Karl “Bush’s Brain” Rove, senior policy advisor to President Bush. Members of National People’s Action (NPA), a national coalition of community organizations, poured onto Rove’s lawn demanding that the White House support the Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act. The activists surrounded Rove’s home chanting, blowing whistles and carrying posters with the message, “Rove: Don’t steal the dream!” If passed, the DREAM Act would grant in-state college tuition for children of immigrants who have graduated from high school and who have lived in the… activism education government: administration race social justice David Sirota Wed, 21 Apr 2004 08:01:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/724/feminism_future/ When San Jose State University senior Erika Jackson tried to recruit fellow women of color for a new feminist group on campus, the overwhelming reply was the sneer: “white women.” Those words were code for another term: racist. Many women of color, like their Anglo counterparts, eschew the term “feminism” while agreeing with its goals (the right to an abortion, equality in job hiring, girls’ soccer teams). But women of color also dismiss the label because the feminist movement has largely focused on the concerns of middle-class white women. This has been a loss for people of color. Likewise, it’s a loss for the movement if it expects to grow: the U.S. Census projects that the Latino and Asian- American… activism gender politics race social justice David Sirota Fri, 23 Apr 2004 07:43:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/727/coalition_to_community/ Second-wave feminism always had to grapple with questions of inclusion, democracy and power. The writings of black feminists from bell hooks to Barbara Smith lamented the condescending, patronizing and sometimes outright racist treatment they experienced in predominately white feminist circles in the ’70s. Even when racism was not there on an interpersonal level, there was a political struggle to stretch the definition of feminism from a narrow set of issues that impact all women to include racial oppression and economic exploitation. Issues like poverty, the prison system, police harassment, economic injustice and welfare, for many poor women and women of color, had to be central to any movement for liberation. Over the past few years a number of writers have… activism gender politics race social justice David Sirota Thu, 06 May 2004 12:59:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/730/mckinney_rises_again/ Cynthia McKinney’s March 29 announcement that she would run for her old congressional seat gave a shot of electoral adrenalin to the body politic. McKinney represented Georgia’s 4th Congressional District for five terms before being ousted in the controversial 2002 primary election. The prospect that genuine progressives like McKinney and soon-to-be U.S. Senator Barack Obama from Illinois will be members of the 109th Congress adds considerable cheer to this rather bleak political season. McKinney became infamous for suggesting that members of the Bush administration might have known more about pre-9/11 intelligence than they previously admitted. That suggestion now seems a bit underwhelming in the wake of revelations from the 9/11 hearings and the book Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke.… politics race social justice election 2004 David Sirota Fri, 04 Jun 2004 10:06:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/764/don_breathe_easy/ The recent discovery of record numbers of asthma sufferers in several Chicago neighborhoods has underscored what experts are calling a national asthma “epidemic.” Yet as the epidemic rages, the Bush administration has moved to relax air pollution standards for power plants, which experts have linked to the growing rates of the disease. Asthma afflicts at least 25 million Americans and kills 5,000 people each year. Ethnic minorities and the poor comprise the vast majority of those who die or are hospitalized. In response, researchers have developed better medications, and groups like WE ACT in Harlem and the American Lung Association (ALA) are working to understand and combat asthma. The Department of Health and Human Services, the Centers for Disease Control… environment medical and health race social justice David Sirota Thu, 10 Jun 2004 14:53:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/773/black_journalism_bright_light/ Vernon Jarrett, who died on May 23, was a black journalist who covered the African-American story so doggedly he became one of its major characters. That story charts a journey through racial slavery, Jim Crow apartheid and on through the civil rights revolution, the black power movement, the rise of black elected officials and further still. It’s a story with many twists and turns, and Jarrett chronicled many of its signposts. At his May 29 funeral at Operation PUSH’s Chicago headquarters, a large, multiracial audience listened respectfully as Jarrett was lovingly evoked and praised as yet another of those signposts. During his stint with the legendary Chicago Defender, where he got his start in 1946 after moving to Chicago from… media race social justice David Sirota Fri, 25 Jun 2004 12:29:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/804/only_skin_deep/ The image around the corner stops visitors in their tracks. Museumgoers come face to face with a hooded member of the Ku Klux Klan. An oversized photographic portrait, frightening on the one hand, disturbingly matter-of-fact on the other. The pointed and carefully stitched Klan hood is a starched, bright white; one eye peers out, surrounded by a halo of light skin. This distant gaze comes from a person who looks to be no older than 30 years old. A cold stare? A lost look? A hint of sadness, perhaps? Visitors cease talking and gather around at a careful distance. Jarringly, it becomes apparent: The person under the hood is a woman. “Klanswoman,” a 1990 cibachrome print of a KKK Grand… race social justice David Sirota Mon, 28 Jun 2004 14:22:00 -0500 http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/806/hip_hop_cops/ “Police Secretly Watching Hip-Hop Artists” read the headline of the Miami Herald article that put the spotlight on a practice that has grown more ominous at the same time that hip-hop has grown more popular. As Nichole White and Evelyn McDonnell reported on March 9, “Miami and Miami Beach police are secretly watching and keeping dossiers on hip-hop celebrities like P. Diddy and DMX and their entourages when they come to South Florida.” Police officials told the Herald they photographed rappers as they arrived at Miami International Airport and staked out hotels, nightclubs and video shoots. The reporters explained that dozens of major and minor rappers are listed and tracked in a “6-inch thick” binder supplied by the New York… race social justice David Sirota