Wow, It Takes a Xmas Miracle for a US Court to Decide That Calling an African American "Boy" is Racist

The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals had ruled that calling an African American worker "boy" was not racist.  They neglected to consider many factors in their ruling, not the least of which, was that a jury had heard all the evidence provided and had decided that yes, calling an African American "boy" is racist, given all the facts presented.  I will write that again, a jury, that sat and listened to all the evidence presented, made a decision that calling an African American worker at a Tyson Food factory "boy" was in fact racist.  That decision by a jury was then summarily overturned by a federal court of appeals that did not hear any of the evidence presented.

Then that same court of appeals reversed itself. Why?

Is it shocking that an appellate court in these United States got it so wrong?

No.

What is great is that they eventually got it right and reversed themselves.  What is unfortunate is that it took the the diligence of many, including a former African American US federal judge, to lobby against this asinine ruling.  And finally, this terrible decision was thankfully reversed.  Too many times to mention appellate courts do not trust or value the decisions that the juries that we, as a people, empower to make these important decisions.

Juries are empowered to hear our complaints against both private and public entities; juries, in civil and criminal cases, are our right.  Juries of our peers.  We should remember that.  Please.

In Honor of Black History Month

So I Guess I'm Not Going to Arizona Anytime Soon

The AZ governor says that their new illegal immigration law won't lead to racial profiling.

Who are they going to stop and ask for their papers?  Blonde and blue eyed people?  People that look like illegal Canadian immigrants?  I can hear it now, "What's this all aboot?!?"  "I'm not your buddy, guy!"  "I'm not your guy, friend!"  "I'm not your friend, buddy!"  If there's two things I hate it's intolerance and Canadians.

Of course I'm kidding.

But, all kidding aside, because this is serious, AZ's new law may can lead down a serious, perilous, slippery slope of intolerances.  For example...

They're just going to ask Hispanics for their papers.  Maybe the armed police will just go door to door to all the residences that have Hispanic surnames listed as renters/owners.  Then, after they've asked for their papers, to make it easier next time, they'll have all Hispanics wear the picture of a taco or Our Lady of Guadalupe on their clothes to identify them as legal.

And then, AZ can just have all the "legal" Hispanics live in the same neighborhood, like a suburb, or apartment complexes or maybe ghettos.

Or better yet AZ can just have all Hispanics wear a bracelet with a number on it.  Odd number = legal.  Even number = illegal.  Just for the ease of the law enforcement officers.

Or even better yet, since they (the Hispanics) could maybe somehow rid themselves of the bracelets, maybe AZ will just pass a law that Hispanics have to get a tattoo on their wrist with the above referenced odd or even numbered designations indicating who is in fact here in the USA legally and who is not.

And keep in mind some Hispanic families have lived in the region since before it was a state.

And those with the even numbers (the "illegals"), when found, can just be put on buses or even better, trains, and shipped off to who knows where.

Way to go AZ.

I'm not going to lie, when I heard that this law was passed it was a punch to my gut.  But, it's also a gut-check.

The AZ law is, in my humble opinion, violative of not only the 14th Amendment but also the 4th Amendment of our Constitution for a number of reasons (reasons I will not go into right now but, trust me, it's unconstitutional).  Hopefully, it will be struck down as such in short order.

Fundamentally though, it smacks of intolerance and ease.  Not all Hispanics are illegal but, AZ would, simply and in an intolerant gesture, subject all Hispanics to the potential indignity of being asked, "for their papers," regardless of whether a person was born here in the USA or not.  We are, last I checked, a nation made up of immigrants (unless you're a Native American).  Of course, at times, this great nation has treated immigrants with reckless intolerance.  This is just another example.  Ask Italian or German or Japanese or Irish immigrants or their progeny about the indignities they faced in the last century or so.  There are African "immigrants" but, I don't include them in the previous list because their experience, with few exceptions and in large measure, and for obvious reasons, is unique.

But, as usual, I digress.

Again, I'll not be visiting AZ anytime soon if I can help it.

And of course, SNL, in the second "story" below incapsulates how asinine AZ's law is:


And as usual I welcome your comment.

Some Thoughts Before the Weekend On: Racist Witch Doctor Posters; Tea "Party" ; Beck vs. Limbaugh; O'Reilly Shocks; Dems Push Back

Some things that got me thinking that you may be interested in checking out before the weekend:

First, a CNN piece discussed posters depicting Obama as a witch doctor seen at the 9/12 protest in D.C. with some discussion as to whether the posters(and those holding them) are racist. This is not the first time this poster has made news. I made my thoughts known regarding this racist poster here on PTN way back in July. Think of it this way, what kind of posters would they be carrying if the president were Mexican-American? Jewish American? Asian-American? Or, gasp, of Middle Eastern descent? Sure, using stereotypes for a race or ethnic group happened often to Irish and Italian Americans(see below), for example. But, that was during the late 1800's and early 1900's for the most part.

(anti Irish propaganda titled The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things, from Harpers Weekly)

(anti Italian propaganda from The Mascot newspaper)

Moving on, Time did an article about Glenn Beck (I still don't understand how people can take him seriously). Time! How much more mainstream media (or "MSM", that's what some conservatives call "mainstream media" even though "mainstream" is one word so it should be MM, jeesh, they can't even get initials right) can you get? Remember, Beck trumpets the Tea Party. Beck was behind the 9/12 protests. Look at Beck's site the912project.com, if you scroll to the bottom it's owned by Mercury Radio Arts, Inc., Beck's company (by the way, and I'm sure someone's already called him out on this but, really classy on Beck's part using the terrorist attacks on 9/11 to help promote his 9/12 protest attended by at least some wingnuts). Here's a thought, if the Tea Party is going to continue to call itself a "Party" that means it should put up its own candidates. Would a real third party in the form of the Tea Party be a bad thing? I would think it would be a good thing for the Dems and a bad thing for GOP'ers. Why? Do you think Dems would lose votes to a new Tea Party political party and its candidates? Or would GOP'ers? Or if GOP'ers embrace Tea Party ideas how many independent voters do you think they'll get? Remember, only about 30-35% of Americans consider themselves Republicans. Also, recall if you can the Independent Party when Ross Perot ran for prez in 1992. How did that work out for H.W. Bush? OK, I'm done ranting about this.

Next topic, Politico.com has a piece about Beck vs. Limbaugh (oh, don't worry, there's a cartoon forthcoming about that, it'll be Star Wars themed, if you guess the general idea of the cartoon you get a gold star from yours truly and a mention when I post the cartoon). In the piece a GOP strategist says that Dems and Limbaugh should be worried about Beck. I disagree, see my thoughts above regarding what an actual Tea Party as a political party would mean for the Dems. And not that I care one way or the other but, Limbaugh has nothing to worry about regarding Beck's popularity.

Also, Bill O'Reilly is for the public option?!?!?! (spit take, shake head, rub eyes, pinch self) OK. Kinda. Maybe. HuffPo has the actual conversation O'Reilly had regarding the public option on its site.

And lastly, the Dems are actually pushing back against some of the outlandish assertions being made about health insurance reform through a new site. Well, would you look at that? The Dems finally got hit enough in the nose on this (death panels for example) that they finally decided to stand up for themselves. This is what it must feel like for a parent when their kid stands up to a bully.

- The Below Is Self Admittedly a Complete Rip Off of a Dave Chappelle Stand Up Routine*

I'm sorry but, the story of African-American Harvard Professor Gates being arrested at his home made me think of this bit from Chappelle's routine. Here's the latest on the incident specifically regarding the "911" call and caller.

*The above cartoon is paraphrased from Dave Chappelle's awesome stand up from years ago on HBO called Killin' Them Softly. (also please note, the "intruder" was not drawn to resemble Prof. Gates of Harvard and the cops were not drawn to resemble the arresting Officers Crowley and Figueroa.)