*Drops Smoke Pellet*

There was a thread that I read in the MCNO email listserv that I found increasingly insulting about how the answer to crime in New Orleans was to initiate a stop and frisk policy.  Below was my response.  I think I just walked into their house, told them all why and how to fuck themselves, and smoke pelleted out.  Oh well.  That was my first post, too.

I usually lurk in this group, especially avoiding the massive strings of debate/arguments that tend to develop in conversations about the NOPD or MCSD, but I really had to respond to the idea that stop and frisk is a policy that should be implemented in New Orleans, an idea that is based on little factual information.  The reason why stop and frisk has recently been the topic of so much conversation is because studies have finally been released that find that it is an expensive policy that has not been effective, but has been racist and contributed to communities of color not trusting the police and, you know, generally feeling oppressed and criminalized for being Black or Brown.

Here are some facts for the factless, which can be found in your local Google search:

• In 2011, 685,724 people were stopped, 84% of whom were Black and Latino.
• Blacks and Latinos represent 23% and 29% percent of NYC's total population.
• 88% of 2011 stops did not result in an arrest or a summons being given.
• Contraband was found in only 2% of all stops.
• Weapons were recovered in only 1% of all stops.
• Blacks and Latinos are more likely to have physical forced used against them.
• Stops made of Whites were slightly more likely to yield contraband.
• Whites were twice as likely to be found with a weapon.

Here's a list of "15 Shocking Facts About a Controversial Program" (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/13/nypd-stop-and-frisks-15-shocking-facts_n_1513362.html), which are not at all shocking if you have a degree in sociology or live in America with your head outside of your rear end.

Recently a judge granted a lawsuit against the NYPD class action status.  The lawsuit states, among other things, that the police department concentrates its stop-and frisk activity on Black and Latino neighborhoods, and that officers are pressured to meet quotas and are punished if they do not.  One of the reasons why judge Scheindlin granted the suit class action status is because she was disturbed that the city responded to the lawsuit by saying that a "court order to stop the practice would amount to judicial intrusion, and that no injunction could guarantee thatsuspicion-less stops would never occur or would only occur in a certain percentage of encounters".  Because...cops aren't supposed to stop you without reasonable suspicion.  In case you didn't know.  I guess the NYPD doesn't.

If you actually care about how the victims of this NYPD policy feel, see this video here from the Melissa Harris-Perry show on MSNBC:  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46979745/vp/46843623#46843623

Hard data  from the NYPD itself, that most of these articles and the lawsuit itself quote. (http://www.nyc.gov/html/nypd/html/analysis_and_planning/stop_question_and_frisk_report.shtml)

An article that weighs the pros and cons (http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20120519/OPINION/205190303/-1/SITEMAP).  The author seems to conclude that the racial profiling is worth the lower murder rate, but:

1.  The crime rate is lower than it was in the 80's, but I'm not sure if comparing current numbers to numbers that existed 3 decades ago is useful - surely stop and frisk is not the only policy that's changed about the NYPD or the city in general that could affect crime during all of that time?

2. As this article points out (http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20120605/new-york-city/stop-and-frisks-have-done-little-reduce-shootings-nypd-data-shows), compared to more recent years the stop and frisk stops have increased exponentially, but the number of victims of gunfire have remained stagnant for the most part.

3. It's really bad statistics for Bloomberg to think that he can predict how many lives have been saved because of stop and frisk.  One of the few things that stuck in my head from my statistics classes at Cornell University is that correlation does not equal causation.  Try saying "stop and frisk increased at the same time that gun violence decreased (but not really), so stop and frisk must be working!"  That is a correlative statement.  They could  be related, but that does not mean that one caused the other to happen.

Another article about how stop and frisks have not decreased shootings in NYC (http://nymag.com/daily/intel/2012/06/stop-and-frisks-havent-stopped-shootings.html).

And a brand new petition from Color of Change (http://www.jackandjillpolitics.com/2012/07/colorofchange-org-tells-nyc-officials-time-to-unite-the-two-new-yorks/), which includes many more stats, and mentions that some of these stops include full-body searches and the NYPD demanding that victims hand over their valuables (sources are included at the link).

So, in short, the practice is racist and ineffective, but if you come to a different conclusion by actually looking up facts using resources that I'm sure you all have, I'd love to hear it.  And I agree with Mrs. Wayman - bringing up the fact that most of NOLA's murderers are Black without mentioning that most of the murder victims are also Black is offensive, and I'll go even further - white murder victims are valued higher, which is why there are so many unsolved murders in any major city with a high Black or Brown populace.  Why do I know the names of the white victims of murder from the past few years?  It's not just because there are few - it's because even though I don't even watch the news, I heard their names everywhere and the little resources that the NOPD apparently has were focused on those people and finding their killers as quickly as possible.  Since I just spent the past hour and a half doing research to fight someone else's ignorance, you (anyone) tell me how many white victims of murder there were in 2011, and whether or not their killers were caught?

Anecdote:  A friend of mine recently did grand jury duty.  He eventually had his therapist write him a note to get out of it because he was becoming depressed seeing all of the indictments that his fellow jurors were handing down on cases that had very circumstantial evidence.  There were a couple of cases, though, where there was an immense amount of evidence, down to crossed T's and dotted I's.  The difference?  Not in the race of the accused, but the race of the victim.

So I find it massively insulting that it can be insisted on a forum that is made up of a class of people who are actually valued and protected by the NOPD that the answer to the issue of crime that mainly affects a community of people who are devalued, alienated, and criminalized by the police department is to further alienate, degrade, and insult those people.

The Other Side + A Debate:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/21/nypd-stop-and-frisk-ray-kelly-daily-news_n_1532930.html

http://www.blackyouthproject.com/2012/06/bloomberg-visits-black-church-stop-and-frisk/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/mari-fagel/beyond-the-numbers-_b_1536589.html

Other Sources:

http://www.ccrjustice.org/stopandfrisk/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/05/16/ny-stop-and-frisk-lawsuit_n_1521081.html?ref=black-voices&ir=Black%20Voices

http://ccrjustice.org/files/CCR_Stop_and_Frisk_Fact_Sheet.pdf

http://www.nyclu.org/node/1598

The Seattle Medium - The Wealth Gap and the Souls of Angry White Folks

Interesting article, especially this quote: "He has gotten into the frame of mind that goes like this: white men have it rough out there and, in fact, white men face discrimination compared with--hold onto your hat--Black women."

I think this attitude comes from the fact that most white folks don't acknowledge their privilege, so the slightest hint of less privilege equals "reverse racism" (the dumbest term ever), when really, the odds are still tilted in the direction of white people, especially men. I mean really - Black women are holding him down?

Chicago's WBBM-TV Misquotes Boy Making Him Sound Violent | News One

They control what you see: "A CBS news station is under fire after it misquoted a 4-year-old boy making him purposely sound violent on the air."

Confederate Domination

I never noticed that this is what is stamped into the light posts along Canal St. I thought at first "why aren't they ashamed of this part of their history", but I realized that I'm not sure which is more disturbing - the way the South celebrates a history that it should be embarrassed about, or the way that the North pretends that there were never slaves suffering up there, too.

What Does It Mean to Be Called Racist?

This post, from a blog that I follow, sums up the topic and comments from this post, from another blog that I follow.  I think that the highlighted comments are spot on, especially comment #1.  I think that a lot of white folks have no idea what institutionalized racism is, let alone how it affects the schema through which everyone, white black or in between, views the world.  This is something that I wonder about every time a white person, celebrity or otherwise, acts as if being called a racist is the worst possible thing in the world.  I can think of a lot worse words, and most of them were created by the ancestors of the same white people who get all indignant about being told that they've said something racist.

In Henry Glover trial, defense tried to bump all black people off jury pool | NOLA.com

This doesn't surprise me. At all.

"The New Orleans police officers tried late last year in the death and burning of Henry Glover sought unsuccessfully to eliminate all of the eligible black jurors from the jury pool, according to a recently unsealed transcript of jury selection in the federal case."

A Time Against Race - Justin Vogt

Very interesting article about the racial nature of politics in New Orleans, our former and current mayors, etc.

"Racism: A History" - Parts 1, 2, and 3

I've had this bookmarked to watch for a while, after discovering it on Documentary Heaven, a website that I've watched a few educational documentaries on.  This is the kind of information that should be taught in schools; this is what fuels the interactions between people of all colors on a daily basis, and has caused so many of the issues that the world is faced with today.


Part One



Part Two




Part Three

Five years later, a richer, whiter New Orleans - Salon.com

This is an article that I meant to post around the end of August, about the issue of gentrification in New Orleans post-8.29.  Some of the comments are angry-making, but probably indicative of how most Americans feel about poor, black people.  The thing is, all of the things that out-of-towners love about New Orleans, wouldn't exist without black folks, past, present, and future.

The "Southern Strategy"

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Prisoners of Katrina | BBC Video

This documentary was made about 4 years ago, but it details some things that I'd only heard bits and pieces of about what happened to the prisoners durring the hurricane and subsequent flooding.  I'm sure that the BBC has its own biases, but man, do they do a better job at real journalism then American cable news channels do.  Do you know what "breaking news" CNN was emailing me about tonight?  Modern Family and Mad Men (I think) winning Emmys.  Really?  Not your job, CNN.  There's about a bajillion sources where I could get that information from, and it makes me sad that you're America's most legitimate 24hr news channel.

Tulia, Texas - Preview from California Newsreel

From the website:

Tulia, Texas is the story of a small town's search for justice and the price Americans pay for the war on drugs. In 1999, a drug sting operation in the small town of Tulia resulted in the arrest of 46 people, 40 of who were black, almost 15% of the black population. Local attorneys denounced the sentences as a form of "racial profiling” and teamed up with the NAACP and ACLU to appeal the verdict. They disputed the claims of the key witness, a federally trained undercover agent with a criminal record of his own, and their efforts resulted in the exoneration of all of the defendants. Tulia, Texas challenges viewers to question the deep ties between race, poverty and the criminal justice system in this country. (Producers/Directors: Cassandra Herrman and Kelly Whalen. 54 minutes, 2008)

Here's the link.  You may have to fill out a short survey first, but it's worth the couple of minutes.

The Colour of Beauty | Work for All

I found this documentary on Work For All, which makes films about discrimination in the workplace.  It discusses racism in the fashion industry while following Black model Renee Thompson as she navigates the world of modeling.

I would love to start a magazine, clothing line, make up line, something that requires models, and hire only Black, Latina, and Asian women.  I'd add that they can be all shapes and sizes, as well.  And I bet that just like that Vogue Italia "Black Issue", my look book would sell out in days, because women like to see themselves in society's representations of beauty.  If I see a woman with my skin tone, with my shape, wearing a dress that she looks amazing in, I'm going to assume that I'll look amazing in it too, and I'll hunt it down.  There'd be a lot of complaining about "reverse racism", but I think it's clear that white models have a hundred times more opportunity than models of color in that industry.

The Urban Politico: Unmasking the Prison Industrial Complex Part 1 of 3: The High Profits of Prison Labor

This is a great read. I didn't know so many companies were using prison labor now. I doubt that we'll ever have leaders ballsy enough to take on prison reform, even though it's clearly a damaged system.

Fwd: This has to stop

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: James Rucker, ColorOfChange.org <no-reply@colorofchange.org>
Date: Tue, Mar 23, 2010 at 11:17 AM
Subject: This has to stop
To:

Racism and hate at Tea Parties is getting worse, and it has to stop. Tell GOP leadership to stop condoning it now:

Dear Denise,

It's time to hold the Republican Party accountable.

You've probably heard about Tea Party members shouting "Nigger!" at Black Congressmen during a protest in Washington, D.C. last weekend. One of the protesters spat on Congressman Emmanuel Cleaver, while another called openly gay Representative Barney Frank a "faggot" as the laughing crowd imitated his lisp.¹

But Saturday was just the most recent example of the intolerance and hate coming from right-wing extremists this past year. At times it's been instigated by Republican leaders. When not, it's usually condoned and seen as part of a strategy to score politically. Either way, it's completely unacceptable and has to stop.

It's time to confront Republican leadership and force them to take responsibility for the atmosphere they've helped create. Join us in drawing a line in the sand, and ask your friends and family to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/hate/?id=2146-1183488

We're calling on RNC Chair Michael Steele, House Minority Leader John Boehner, and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell to publicly do two simple things:

1. Unequivocally condemn bigotry and hate among their supporters, and make clear that those who embrace it have no place in their party.
    
2. Make clear that they will not tolerate fear-mongering and coded appeals to racism from officials in the Republican party, at any level.

Republican leaders publicly denounced Sunday's ugly scene, but they failed to acknowledge that this is only the latest incident in a pattern of violent rhetoric, racially charged imagery, and paranoid conspiracy theories at Tea Party rallies.² Many Tea Partiers aren't simply about dissent -- they use fear and hatred to assault the very legitimacy of our elected leaders. It's the worst America has to offer.

Despite this, Republican leaders court the Tea Party movement while methodically supporting, exacerbating and exploiting their fear and anger for cynical political ends.³ This is nothing less than a betrayal of American values, and it's up to us to force the Republicans to stop aiding and abetting this enterprise:

http://colorofchange.org/hate/?id=2146-1183488

The Tea Party movement has been marked by racially inflammatory and violent outbursts since its inception a year ago. GOP leaders are trying to pass off this weekend's assaults on Congressmen Lewis, Cleaver, Clyburn and Frank as isolated incidents. But when so-called "isolated incidents" crop up again and again, a pattern starts to emerge. The examples are numerous.

At rallies held to protest tax day last year, Tea Partiers carried signs that announced "Obama's Plan: White Slavery," "The American Taxpayers are the Jews for Obama's Oven," and "Guns Tomorrow!"⁴ The Republican National Committee had endorsed the rallies, and RNC Chairman Michael Steele encouraged Tea Partiers to send a "virtual tea bag" to President Obama and Democratic Congressional leadership.⁵ After reports of the fear-mongering signs surfaced, Steele did nothing to distance his party from the lunatic fringe. He has even gone so far as to say that if he didn't have his current position, he'd be "out there with the tea partiers."⁶ Some Republican governors even planned a "Tea Party 2.0" for the following month in an effort to build on the rallies' momentum.⁷

The Tea Party's venomous rhetoric picked up steam over the summer, when angry mobs flooded town hall meetings legislators had organized as sites for rational, civil debate on health care reform. After one meeting in Atlanta, a swastika was painted on the office of Congressman David Scott (D-GA), who had also received a flier addressed to "nigga David Scott." ⁸ Some protesters showed up at town hall meetings carrying guns, including at least one man who was armed at an event where the President was speaking.⁹ Again, Republicans responded to these tactics with silence, doing nothing to denounce them.

Similarly, there was no public outcry from Republican leadership when Mark Williams, a leader of the Tea Party movement, was exposed for having described the President as "an Indonesian Muslim turned welfare thug and a racist in chief" on his blog.¹⁰ Instead, members of the GOP continued to show up to and endorse Tea Party rallies. And as recently as Sunday -- the day that the historic health care bill passed the House -- Republican members of the House riled up the same Tea Party crowd that had earlier harassed their fellow members with hate and bigotry.

Our country deserves better than this. No matter what party one supports, we should all take strong action to support civil, honest, and respectful public debate. Can you take a moment to call on Michael Steele, John Boehner, and Mitch McConnell to denounce the racist rhetoric and fear-mongering that have been ongoing, significant characteristics of the Tea Party movement, and tell those who embrace these divisive and un-American beiefs that they have no place in their party, as members or leaders? And when you do, please ask your family and friends to do the same:

http://colorofchange.org/hate/?id=2146-1183488

Thanks and Peace,

-- James, Gabriel, William, Dani, Milton and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
   March 23rd, 2010

1. "Tea Party Protests: 'Ni**er,' 'Fa**ot' Shouted At Members Of Congress," Huffington Post, 3-20-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/127?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=7

2. "10 Most Offensive Tea Party Signs And Extensive Photo Coverage From Tax Day Protests," Huffington Post, 4-16-09
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/128?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=9

3. "Memo Reveals GOP Plan to Exploit Fear of Obama," AOL News, 3-4-2010
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/137?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=11

4. See Reference 2

5. "Tax Day Tea Parties Officially Endorsed By Republican Party," Huffington Post, 5-15-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/138?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=13

6. "Steele: I'd join the tea parties," Politico, 1-15-10
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/136?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=15

7. "GOP govs plan Tea Party sequel," Politico, 5-12-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/131?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=17

8. "Rep. David Scott's (D-Ga) office spray-painted with Swastika," Daily Kos, 8-11-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/132?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=19

9. "Armed and Dangerous?" Talking Points Memo, 8-11-2009
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/133?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=21

10. "Tea party leader calls Obama a welfare thug," The Loop, 9-15-09
http://act.colorofchange.org/go/134?akid=1397.1130998.nOTb2O&t=23

 

From PostBourgie - "Colorlines: Race and the Economic Recovery" Full Eppy

H/T to PostBourgie.

I remember when my mom was on unemployment (that's what they call welfare in MD) when I was little hearing her complain about having to go to those silly classes when she'd been working in the same field for more than 10 years and already knew everything that they were teaching.  It's a waste of time for many people.  There are some people who need job training out there, but most of the people who are on welfare or unemployment are just people who were unlucky enough to get fired and not get another job within a few weeks.

It's a damn shame that the woman interviewed had to go back to an abusive relationship because he could help support the kids.  It also disturbs me how often poor women are threatened with getting their kids taken away from them.  No, lead paint is not a safe environment for the kids, but neither is living with a daddy who likes to hit your mom.  I would say that an abusive father is a much more immediate danger.  What the hell else were her options?  Child Services needs to be more reasonable, or helpful, about things like this.

Fw: A death in Homer

----- Forwarded Message ----

From: Morris Dees <splc@newsletter.splcenter.org>
To:
Sent: Tue, February 16, 2010 2:44:41 PM
Subject: A death in Homer

Feb. 16, 2010 Dear Friend, As you may have read in yesterday's New York Times, we've just filed an important new lawsuit against the town of Homer, Louisiana, where an elderly black man was shot dead by a white police officer while standing harmlessly on his own front porch. Our suit seeks justice for Bernard Monroe's widow and his five children. But there's also a larger issue at stake — the pattern of racial profiling and police harassment of African Americans that led directly to Monroe's death. Last year, the white police chief in the town told a newspaper: "If I see three or four young black men walking down the street, I have to stop them and check their names. I want them to be afraid every time they see the police that they might get arrested." Monroe, 73, a retiree known as "Mr. Ben," was enjoying a gathering of family and friends on a mild winter day last February when two white police officers pulled up in front of the modest wood-frame house he had called home for the past 25 years. For no good reason, the officers chased his adult son into the house. They had no warrant, and nobody there was wanted for any crime. When Mr. Monroe walked up the front porch steps during the commotion to check on his elderly wife, an officer who was still inside the house opened fire through the screen door, hitting him multiple times in the chest, back and arms. This terrible tragedy should never have happened. And it wouldn't have happened if the police had acted responsibly. But, apparently, this type of police intimidation was well known to African Americans in the town. Earlier on the day Monroe was killed, the police officer who fired the deadly shots had also searched and questioned other African Americans who were doing nothing more than sitting in their yard, minding their own business. I'm outraged that this type of racial profiling is still occurring almost half a century after Jim Crow segregation was struck down in the South. The people of Homer deserve a police department that protects, rather than harasses them. We're determined to get justice for the Monroe family and to stop unlawful discrimination. The dangers of bigotry are clear. Please speak out against racial profiling and every form of discrimination. Thank you for supporting our work and for everything you do to promote justice in your own community. Sincerely, Morris Dees Founder, Southern Poverty Law Center You can donate to the Southern Poverty Law Center online.  Follow SPLC on Twitter.  Become our fan on Facebook. We welcome your feedback. Contact us online. Or by mail: Southern Poverty Law Center 400 Washington Ave. Montgomery, AL 36104 If you no longer wish to receive e-mails from us, please send an e-mail to: unsub_center@newsletter.splcenter.org

David Simon Interview on Bill Moyers "Journal"

I found this on Shadow and Act. Man, he is right about so many things.

From Racism Review: Racial Bias Affects Perceptions of Victims’ Need

Racial Bias Affects Perceptions of Victims’ Need:

Researchers at Kansas State University have found that racial bias affects people’s perceptions of those in need. Researchers Donald Saucier, associate professor of psychology, and psychology graduate students Sara Smith, Topeka, and Jessica McManus, Maineville, Ohio, surveyed undergraduate students a year after Hurricane Katrina to examine their perceptions of the hurricane victims and the helping response. Here’s a brief recap of the study from Science Daily:

The researchers created a questionnaire that evaluated the participants’ perceptions of Hurricane Katrina victims. The questionnaire evaluated whom the participants perceived to be the victims based on measures like gender, race and socioeconomic status. The results showed that participants generally thought people impacted by Hurricane Katrina were black and lower class.

“What we wanted to do was see how perceptions of victims of Hurricane Katrina would interact with things like racism,” Saucier said. “We wanted to look at how much the participants felt that the victims may have been to blame for their own situation in Katrina.”

The researchers measured differences in the participants, including their levels of conservatism, empathy and racism. The findings showed that when recalling victims of Hurricane Katrina, participants who were less racist thought the victims did not receive adequate help from the government. Participants who were more racist thought the victims received adequate government assistance and were at fault for their situation. The survey also asked questions that measured whether the participants thought the victims had enough time to evacuate and whether they had enough resources to get out before the hurricane hit.

“We asked the participants to make personality attributions about individuals, such as whether they thought the victims were lazy, stupid, sinful or unlucky,” Saucier said. “If they said they were lazy, stupid or sinful, they were putting more blame on the victims for the situation. If they said they were unlucky, they took away the blame.”

The results of the study showed that when recalling victims of Hurricane Katrina, participants who were less racist thought the victims did not receive adequate help from the government. Participants who were more racist thought the victims received adequate government assistance and were at fault for their situation.

Their findings are not surprising but disturbing nonetheless given the continued harrowing news out of Haiti. Recent news from Democracy Now confirms what I anticipated last week, namely that racism is hindering relief efforts in Port-au-Prince.

Black Iraqis Claim Discrimination

I wasn't aware that there were Black Iraqis, although it makes perfect sense.  It's interesting, the darkest people in every country in the world are treated worse than the rest of the populace, but, you know, racism doesn't exist anymore.