US House of Representatives passes legislation apologizing for slavery and Jim Crow "Separate but Equal" eras

On Tuesday, July 29 2008 the United States House of Representatives passed, by a unanimous vote, H. Res. 194, a resolution which formally apologized for the enslavement and racial segregation of African Americans. This resolution was significant for several reasons, including the fact that it addressed not only slavery but the "separate but equal" Jim Crow era as well.

This legislation is an important first step in recognizing a very important aspect of American's history and recommitting ourselves to bringing about an end to the disparities and injustices that continue to plague our Nation as a result of the dehumanization of an entire race. In passing this resolution, the House of Representatives has sent a message to all of the American people and others that the most powerful nation in the world is willing to look honestly at some of the most shameful parts of its history, accept responsibility, and apologize for its actions.

The NAACP Washington Bureau has been in negotiations with Senator Tom Harkin (Iowa) to author a companion resolution in the Senate; we are hoping it will be introduced in the near future. The NAACP also strongly supports H.R. 40, legislation introduced by Congressman John Conyers (MI) to take the next step toward healing our Nation by addressing and seeking remedy for the lingering effects if this deplorable institution.

The full text of the resolution follows:

Apologizing for the enslavement and racial segregation of African-Americans.

Whereas millions of Africans and their descendants were enslaved in the United States and the 13 American colonies from 1619 through 1865;

Whereas slavery in America resembled no other form of involuntary servitude known in history, as Africans were captured and sold at auction like inanimate objects or animals;

Whereas Africans forced into slavery were brutalized, humiliated, dehumanized, and subjected to the indignity of being stripped of their names and heritage;

Whereas enslaved families were torn apart after having been sold separately from one another;

Whereas the system of slavery and the visceral racism against persons of African descent upon which it depended became entrenched in the Nation's social fabric;

Whereas slavery was not officially abolished until the passage of the 13th Amendment to the United States Constitution in 1865 after the end of the Civil War, which was fought over the slavery issue;

Whereas after emancipation from 246 years of slavery, African-Americans soon saw the fleeting political, social, and economic gains they made during Reconstruction eviscerated by virulent racism, lynchings, disenfranchisement, Black Codes, and racial segregation laws that imposed a rigid system of officially sanctioned racial segregation in virtually all areas of life;

Whereas the system of de jure racial segregation known as `Jim Crow,' which arose in certain parts of the Nation following the Civil War to create separate and unequal societies for whites and African-Americans, was a direct result of the racism against persons of African descent engendered by slavery;

Whereas the system of Jim Crow laws officially existed into the 1960's--a century after the official end of slavery in America--until Congress took action to end it, but the vestiges of Jim Crow continue to this day;

Whereas African-Americans continue to suffer from the consequences of slavery and Jim Crow--long after both systems were formally abolished--through enormous damage and loss, both tangible and intangible, including the loss of human dignity and liberty, the frustration of careers and professional lives, and the long-term loss of income and opportunity;

Whereas the story of the enslavement and de jure segregation of African-Americans and the dehumanizing atrocities committed against them should not be purged from or minimized in the telling of American history;

Whereas on July 8, 2003, during a trip to Goree Island, Senegal, a former slave port, President George W. Bush acknowledged slavery's continuing legacy in American life and the need to confront that legacy when he stated that slavery `was . . . one of the greatest crimes of history . . . The racial bigotry fed by slavery did not end with slavery or with segregation. And many of the issues that still trouble America have roots in the bitter experience of other times. But however long the journey, our destiny is set: liberty and justice for all.';

Whereas President Bill Clinton also acknowledged the deep-seated problems caused by the continuing legacy of racism against African-Americans that began with slavery when he initiated a national dialogue about race;

Whereas a genuine apology is an important and necessary first step in the process of racial reconciliation;

Whereas an apology for centuries of brutal dehumanization and injustices cannot erase the past, but confession of the wrongs committed can speed racial healing and reconciliation and help Americans confront the ghosts of their past;

Whereas the legislature of the Commonwealth of Virginia has recently taken the lead in adopting a resolution officially expressing appropriate remorse for slavery and other State legislatures are considering similar resolutions; and

Whereas it is important for this country, which legally recognized slavery through its Constitution and its laws, to make a formal apology for slavery and for its successor, Jim Crow, so that it can move forward and seek reconciliation, justice, and harmony for all of its citizens:

Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the House of Representatives--

(1) acknowledges the fundamental injustice, cruelty, brutality, and inhumanity of slavery and Jim Crow;

(2) apologizes to African-Americans on behalf of the people of the United States, for the wrongs committed against them and their ancestors who suffered under slavery and Jim Crow; and

(3) expresses its commitment to rectify the lingering consequences of the misdeeds committed against African-Americans under slavery and Jim Crow and to stop the occurrence of human rights violations in the future."
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What do YOU think? 'Long Overdue'?... Nice but insufficient?... Unnecessary?... Irrelevant?... Click the "Comments" button below and share your thoughts?

Tech Tags: Slavery+apology, House+of+Representatives NAACP HR40

USD259 provides funding for the Director of Equity and Accountability position

Earlier this year, USD259 voted to end busing for desegregation. We (the Wichita Branch NAACP) participated in the district meetings to discuss the end and alternatives to busing and we agreed with the proposal with some caveats. In February of this year, we made a presentation to the Board of Education wherein we outlined our recommendations for maintaining diversity and equity in the district post-busing.

The first of these recommendation was that the district would create a Director level position who would oversee diversity and equity issues within the district. This position was also referenced in the 4-point plan to eliminate the achievement gap that we presented to the district sometime earlier.

The District has since voted to create a new Director of Equity and Accountability position. And we are very pleased to report that they have now proposed to fully fund the position with a $300,000.00 line item in the budget that would cover the Director's salary, the hiring of an assistant, and the services of a consultant who will help them draft the job description and will advise on how to properly manage the transition from busing to a new system.

We sincerely applaud the district's effort, and we thank them for listening and being responsive to the concerns of the community. We believe that this position will prove to be a great benefit to the district in a number of areas. Beyond the racial diversity issues, this position can help the district deal with *compliance issues on Board Policies, and objectives. It can refocus the board on *resource management and the equitable allocation of funds and projects throughout the district. It can even initiate a real discussion on the *allocation of Human Resources; namely the distribution of experienced versus inexperienced teachers.

We look forward to strengthening our relationship with the district as we continue to work on the critical issues of diversity and equity. And as always, we'll keep you posted...

Tech Tags: Education Diversity Busing NAACP Equity

Make your reservations now for the NAACP Leadership 500 Summit

The Leadership 500 gathering prepares to set a new agenda & create a continuing network of the nation's emerging leaders

"Leadership By Design: Ensuring Our Legacy" is the theme of the 4th Annual NAACP Leadership 500 Summit, being held at the Phoenician Resort and Spa in Scottsdale, Arizona May 22-25. Participants will attend two and a half days of workshops, interactive panel discussions and facilitated general sessions led by prominent private sector, non-profit, corporate and community leaders.

Leadership 500 workshop topics will explore issues of economic parity and wealth creation; civil rights; health and wellness as a business imperative; early childhood education; and the status of African American women in today's society. The complex issues of race, class, gender and religion in America will be examined in a Town Hall Meeting. Confirmed speakers include Dr. Robert M. Franklin, President of Morehouse College; Dr. Randal Pinkett, Chairman and CEO of BCT Partners and winner of NBC's "The Apprentice" with Donald Trump; the Hon. Judge Greg Mathis of the Judge Mathis Show; and John Hope Bryant, Chairman and CEO of OperationHOPE.

Since its inception in 2005, Leadership 500 has served as a fertile training ground around social justice advocacy for more than 1,200 mid-level professionals between the ages of 30 and 50. The summit is one of several rallying events for the organization as it prepares to celebrate its Centennial Anniversary Feb. 12, 2009.

"Effective leadership is a destination achieved through careful thought, consideration and strategic action. We invite leaders from across the country to join us for this exciting conference." - NAACP National Board of Directors Vice Chairwoman Roslyn M. Brock, conceiver of the summit.

Click HERE to register!

For more information contact Paula Brown Edme' at: pedme@naacpnet.org.

Founded in 1909, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People is the nation�s oldest and largest civil rights organization. Its more than half-million adult and youth members throughout the United States and the world are the premier advocates for civil rights in their communities and monitors of equal opportunity in the public and private sectors.

President Myles' address to USD259 on Equity, Diversity, and the School Bond issue

Last night, I addressed the School Board about the need for structural and policy changes to support diversity and equity post-busing. Below, I've posted a copy of my remarks...

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President Dietz, Members of the Board, and Superintendent Brooks…

We are here to discuss two of the most pertinent issues facing this board. Diversity & Equity…

Your vote last week to end Busing for Desegregation may well turn out to be the most consequential act of each of your tenures. And while the consequences may ultimately be positive or negative, one thing is for certain; and that is that there will be consequences.

But before I go any further, I would like to take a moment and address a couple issues and statements I’ve heard of late. It has become fashionable of late to talk about busing as though it didn’t work; or at least as though it was a ‘relic of a time long since past.’

Some members of the Board and the Administration have publicly described busing as something that had “outlived its usefulness”; and certainly something far less important than our new favorite buzzword: “Choice”.

Now certainly as Educators and Administrators, I would not presume to give you a history on Desegregation, but for the benefit of those who came late to the discussion, I’d like to note that Busing was never envisioned as the final solution. Busing wasn’t even the recommendation of the Wichita NAACP. Busing was merely a strategy employed to combat much larger issues. Those being Equity & Diversity.

Some members of the board have noted that Busing didn’t close the Achievement Gap. Well, it’s equally worth noting that Busing was never designed to close the Gap. If anything, we should be appreciative of the fact that it was this effort, this campaign for equity and diversity that revealed the Achievement Gap and placed the issue on our collective radars, because as long as our schools were separate, we didn’t track or measure the comparative progress of all of our children.

The progress we’ve made did not come in spite of Desegregation efforts, it came because of Desegregation. It was only through our efforts to address Diversity that we became aware of not only Structural, but systematic and instructional inequities as well.

But Now Busing has ended… You’ve taken the bold step of eliminating the Strategy… But we come here tonight to ask, what we will do now to address the substantive underlying issues.

You have proposed that an Oversight Committee be formed to monitor the district's performance on the issues of diversity and equity. We believe the oversight committee is a great idea, however we know that a oversight advisory committee alone will be vastly insufficient to shape the district's responses to the challenges that lie ahead.

A group of volunteers with no real power to affect policy or make change can not be held accountable for the condition of our schools.

In taking the vote to end our diversity program, you each, personally assumed a degree of responsibility for the outcomes. Some even took what I thought was a remarkable step of congratulating themselves on the accomplishment as though all the problems were solved and a long fought ‘battle had somehow been won’. So while we are supportive of the formation of an advisory committee, we are here to say that we recognize that committees alone are not enough. .
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We’ve been down this road before… and we have had some experience with District Advisory Committees. We came to the Board with specific recommendations to close the Achievement Gap, which were the result of three years of collaborative work between community organizations. Our recommendations, which you adopted, were never fully implemented. They were never written into policy; what we got… was a committee.

When Hope Street Youth Development came to the board with the issues of disproportionate Suspensions and Expulsions, no new policies were written, the issue was instead deferred to a committee.

When the African American Parent Support Group came with it’s recommendations, they were taken under advisement to be discussed between various committees.

The issues of diversity and equity are too important to our children for us to defer the issue to just another advisory committee. Ending Busing will only be the first of a series of very difficult decisions this Board must now face.

• The District I Board of Education (BOE) member, Betty Arnold is recommending that in addition to having an oversight committee, a paid staff position should be created to oversee diversity, quality education, etc. We wholeheartedly support this recommendation and will ask the other Board members for their support as well. We made a similar recommendation in the 4-point plan to eliminate the Achievement Gap which was adopted, but never fully implemented.

• We will also restate our position that if we are to ensure diversity and equity, then we need to go back to the map and redraw our neighborhood school boundaries. I brought up the issue of redrawing boundaries for Diversity during the Busing Task Force meeting, and while the idea was discussed favorably during those meetings, we’ve now heard how difficult it would be and that limited boundary changes for Stuckey and Heights may be warranted. But we are asking for more than that. We would like you as a board to work towards redrawing boundaries (which would address overcrowding issues) but also with a specific eye towards addressing diversity. Doing so would be a win-win.

• We also ask that you draft specific policy that speaks directly to the issue of equity in teachers, resources, and facilities. The number of highly qualified teachers and the average levels of experience within each school should be monitored and there should be some safeguards against any school falling behind the others in these categories.
  

And lastly, with regard to the proposed $350,000,000.00 bond issue… I don’t want to blindside you, so I’m here to let you all know our position.

We know and believe, that your budget reflects your priorities. You fund and spend money on those things you consider to be important. Just days ago, You each took what will likely be the most consequential vote of each of your tenures… and now you’ve come forth with a $350,000,000.00 plan for school improvements to athletic fields and swimming pools, but when it comes to the issues of Diversity and Equity, the only specific policy initiative you’re offering is just another committee.

Sure the plan calls for the construction of some new schools, but diversity and equity are more than just having a seat for every child; its about having a seat for every child in front of a highly qualified and experienced teacher, with high expectations, a challenging curriculum, and a positive learning environment.

Sure the plan calls for the upgrading of some existing schools in the Northeast, But Diversity and Equity are about more than just Bricks and Mortar; in addition to having the exterior being structurally sound, we want the interior to be INstructionally sound.

So we would like to state for the record, that while we support the goals of the proposed Bond issue, Our support or opposition to the Bond will be directly linked to the degree to which Diversity and Equity are built into the plan, the willingness of the board to develop and implement prescient policies to safeguard our vision and commitment, and our willingness to think outside of the box to create positive change, now and not later. We don’t want to wait until the bond is passed and the work is underway, to come to you with recommendations only to be told that there is no more money and no more will. Now is the time to move from “Promises” to “Policies”

We have come before you many times before. When we recommend Positions – there’s never enough money… When we recommend Policy – there’s never enough political will...

But we know budgets reflect priorities, and we want Diversity and Equity to become Priorities for this district. So we can not support a major $350,000,000.00 bond issue and facilities plan unless it reflects these values and these priorities.

Now I know I’ve said a mouthful, but I want to close by saying that, we are not coming to you tonight as Adversaries… We are here only as Advocates… We are here because we care deeply about the future of our children as you do… and we can not and will not stand to see them fall back into the traps we once escaped.

Thank you for your time...

Tech Tags: Diversity, Equity, School, Education, Busing, desegregation, resegregation, NAACP, Wichita, Kevin+Myles

Your Presence is needed to show support for diversity and ensure equity in our schools

Please Plan to Attend:

To show your support, please attend the:

Board of Education Meeting: Monday, February 11, 2008
Time: 6:00 p.m. - Arrive by 5:40 p.m. for parking & seating.
Place: North High School - 1437 Rochester (by 13th & N. Waco)

Last week, USD259 voted to end it's busing for desegregation program. The plan had been in effect since 1971 and was implemented as a result of a lawsuit filed by the Wichita Branch NAACP under the leadership of then President Chester Lewis. Local Wichitan's and longtime readers of this blog know that the administration of USD259 had sought for a number of years to end the program, and that each year, the Branch would mount a strategic 'counter-campaign' to save it.

Many of you outside of Wichita may be surprised to learn that our program had survived this long, but that was a testament to the hard work and efforts of the volunteer members of our local branch. Over the last few years, our Branch (particularly the members of the Education committee) held forums, attended community meetings, passed out flyers, bought and supplied books and resource materials, gave radio and television interviews to support and maintain our districts desegregation efforts. We worked very hard for the cause of maintaining diversity within our schools, and each year, though our district's administration made clear their intent to end the program, we were able to rally public support and keep it in place.

This year was different. Bolstered by the recent decision of the Supreme Court, the district approached the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) once more, seeking to be released from our busing for desegregation program. We contacted OCR as we had in years past to state our position as representatives of the original plaintiffs in the suit that led to the creation of the plan. But while our fierce support of diversity in education never waivered, this campaign coupled with the recent Supreme Court decisions gave us a good opportunity to re-examine our strategy.

In reassessing our strategy it became clear that somehow along the way, we had allowed ourselves to slip into the role of defending the status quo. That was a tragic and inappropriate role for a watchdog/advocacy group because we were often placed in a position of defending a status quo that was in many respects inadequate. Our children have many educational issues and needs, but our ability to effectively advocate on their behalf was muted; it was difficult at times to fight for what we needed when we were fighting so hard to maintain what little we had. Like midshipmen aboard a leaky boat, so much of our time was devoted to fixing leaks, bailing water, and reassuring dissatisfied passengers, that little time was left for us to recognize or address the fact that our Sail was actually too small, our maps were outdated, and our Captain was asleep at the wheel. If for no other reason that this, we as a Branch needed to reposition ourselves so that we could become more effective in our role as advocates.

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We had made it clear all along that we were never 'married' to busing; we viewed busing as a strategy, not a goal. But we were and remain completely committed to Diversity in Education, Educational Equity, High Expectations for all students, Challenging Curriculums, and having experienced highly qualified teachers for our children. We addressed the Board of Education during the 06 and 07 school years and acknowledged that we would be open to alternative plans as long as they provided for these things.

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When the District voted to end busing, a plan was put forth that would (at least initially) address these issues. Additionally, a number of promises and commitments were made by members of the Board and the Administration regarding diversity and equity. However, while we believe the members of the Board to be sincere in their intent, we want to see these promises and commitments codified into district policy.

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The district has proposed that an Oversight Committee be formed to monitor the district's performance on the issues of diversity and equity. We believe the oversight committee is a great idea, however we know that a oversight advisory committee alone will be vastly insufficient to shape the district's responses to the challenges that lie ahead. A group of volunteers with no real power to affect policy or make change can not be held accountable for the condition of our schools. The District and administration may, at their discretion, delegate some degree of oversight and authority to an advisory committee, but they can NOT delegate their responsibility or their accountability.

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In taking that vote to end the existing program they each, personally assumed responsibility for the outcomes. However, the issues of diversity and equity are so important to our children, that we can not simply allow them to defer the issue to just another advisory committee. Ending Busing will only be the first of a series of very difficult decisions this Board must now face.

• The District I Board of Education (BOE) member, Betty Arnold is recommending that in addition to having an oversight committee, a paid staff position should be created to oversee diversity, quality education, etc. We wholeheartedly support this recommendation and will ask the other Board members for their support as well. We made a similar recommendation in the 4-point plan to eliminate the Achievement Gap which the Board adopted, but never fully implemented.

• We will also restate our position that if we are to ensure diversity and equity, then we need to go back to the map and redraw our neighborhood school boundaries. The AAA neighborhood for student assignment purposes was defined by residential segregated housing patterns. To truly move beyond race in education, we should abandon the old 'Negro district' and develop new school boundaries using the same growth and capacity formula that we would use anywhere else in the city. We believe that if we all work together to reexamine school boundaries and determine how best to assign students, we can maintain diversity without forced busing.

• We will ask that the District draft policy that speaks directly to the issue of equity in teachers, resources, and facilities. The number of highly qualified teachers and the average levels of experience within each school should be monitored and there should be some safeguards against any school falling behind the others in these categories.

• And we will also speak to the District's proposed $350,000,000.00 bond issue.

On Tuesday morning, following the Board meeting, I will post my comments to the board and their questions and reactions here on the blog. But in the interim, we asking that all who are able plan to attend and show your support for these efforts...

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See you Monday!

Tech Tags: Busing, Desegregation, USD259, NAACP, Wichita+NAACP, Education, School, Youth

Diversity post Deseg: Our position on the District's plan to end busing...

Wichita School District USD259 is looking at ways to end it's busing for desegregation program. We have argued for the last few years that we [Wichita NAACP] as an organization are committed to diversity and integrated schools, however, we are not 'married' to busing as the method. We have argued that if the district wants to end its busing for desegregation program, than it should first make a plan that would show how we would maintain diversity, access to quality teachers and materials, while providing academic rigor, high standards and high expectations for all students.

This year, the Superintendent assembled a task force to study recommendations and make suggestions for such a plan that would be a suitable alternative to busing. I served on that task force and made suggestions that were incorporated into the final presentation that the Superintendent made to the Board of Education.

Yesterday I was interviewed by the Wichita Eagle (our local newspaper) to gather community reactions to the presentation. While my comments were rather lengthy, the article itself focused on showing diverse opinions, therefore my comments were truncated and our position was not conveyed.

As the plaintiff organization in the original lawsuit that led to the creation of USD259's desegregation plan, I feel it is important that we clearly communicate our position to the community. I have since pieced together my own notes from the interview, and I will now share my reassembled notes from that interview with you all, in their entirety...
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Wichita Eagle:
What was your reaction to the superintendent's proposal?

KM:
I was pleased we were able to reach a compromise. The plan recognizes the fact that we need to sit down and do the hard work of figuring out how to deal with capacity issues and student assignments. But, in the interim, this plan offers acceptable choices to children in the AAA area.
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Wichita Eagle:
Are you concerned about the district possibly returning to more segregated schools?

KM:
Certainly. Most of the districts who have abandoned their desegregation programs have become increasingly segregated and we have seen a return to an unequal distribution of resources. If we are going to avoid that fate, then we as a community will have to be active, vocal and vigilant and we will have to hold our elected representatives on the school board, along with our superintendent and administration accountable for the condition of those schools.

But we can not solve this issue without going back to the map and redrawing school boundaries. The AAA neighborhood for student assignment purposes was defined by residential segregated housing patterns. To truly move beyond race in education, we should abandon the old 'Negro district' and develop new school boundaries using the same growth and capacity formula that we would use anywhere else in the city.
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Wichita Eagle:
How could we re-draw those boundaries? What would that look like?

KM:
What we [the Wichita NAACP] envision as an ideal scenario would be an all magnet, open enrollment district. Short of that, any new boundaries drawn would require constant vigilance on the part of parents, community organizations and concerned citizens.

We need to consider redrawing school boundary lines to reflect locations of students and capacities of surrounding schools, and get away from old maps based upon segregated housing patterns.

We believe that if we all work together to reexamine school boundaries and and determine how best to assign students, we may be able to provide diversity without forced busing.
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Wichita Eagle:
Some people have expressed a concern about how the district would ensure that there were equitable resources for all schools. And the District has talked about possibly building more schools in central northeast Wichita. What are your thoughts?

KM:
We are for building enough schools to address district capacity issues, however, the location of those schools should be based upon student population and needs. We should not focus on creating seats specifically for Black children or seats for specifically for Latino children solely for the purposes [of vacating] a court order. That is actually a step in the wrong direction.

If all we do is replace a few schools in the old Negro district, then we will have simply returned to the same segregated pattern and formula that led to the original lawsuit brought by Chester Lewis and the Wichita Branch. But if we capitalize on this moment, this envisioning process really gives us an opportunity to do something truly visionary and progressive.
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Wichita Eagle:
Are you concerned that this could be a very prolonged process and how would that effect children in the AAA area?

KM:
According to the plan as submitted, kids in the AAA area get preference in placement to magnet schools for however long it takes.
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Wichita Eagle:
There seem to be some generational differences of viewpoints, with some in the older generation who fought to end segregation in schools are saying we need to keep busing for deseg, but some younger people in the community are saying we should end it. How do we reach a common ground? And IS there a common ground?

KM:
Among those of us who are most affected, I think we have to work for that common ground.

Let me go on record as saying: We, as the NAACP, are in favor of maintaining diverse, integrated schools. And we will oppose any plan we see as a harbinger to more segregated school assignments. However, we believe by collectively reexamining school boundaries and plans for student assignments it is possible to achieve diverse and integrated schools without forced busing. All of our efforts are focused to that end.
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Leave us a comment and share your thoughts on this issue...

Tech Tags: Busing desegregation integration resegregation schools current+events current+affairs NAACP Wichita USD259

"Cards" and "Copouts": the new language of race in America

The issue of race has experienced a bit of a resurgence as of late. With a barrage of national stories about the Durham Lacrosse team, the Jena 6, Imus and Dog, Megan Williams, and the recent recrudescence of the noose, increasingly, our communal dialogue turns it's attention towards our favorite poison.

And yet, as we engage the subject with greater frequency, our conversations seem to evince a growing segregation of ideas, visions, and understandings. WEB DuBois once famously remarked, "the problem of the 20th Century, is the problem of the color line", and nowhere is the continued existence of that divisive color-line more evident than in our virtual town-hall...

Is Institutional Racism a lingering blight on our society that must be challenged and eliminated? Or is it a thing of the past, existing now only in the rhetorical ramblings of racial-hustlers and opportunists? The answer depends largely on who you ask.

A real tragedy of Race in our contemporary society is that it has become such a polarizing subject that at its very mention, it causes us to reflexively retreat to our ideological battle positions, thereby preventing us from truly listening to each other and understanding each others concerns. We defend or attack with little regard for material facts; considering any provocation at all as justification enough to resume our symbolic proxy war (OJ vs the Klan).

Any real understanding is impeded and we find ourselves unable to move beyond this stasis because of our refusal to 'dig deeper' and to give real consideration for opposing views. It's as though we fear that any substantive examination of the cauldron of race might uncover some degree of our own complicity thereby introducing a cognitive dissonance that would be psychologically traumatic.

Race is our ideological "sausage"; we indulge, but rarely investigate it's origins or how its made. In fact we consciously recognize that truly examining and understanding the phenomena of race would be disturbing. So instead, we ignore the deep and foundational issues, choosing to focus on the trivial, such as on how many blacks are on a specific TV show or the existence of BET. And any incident, immediate or remote, that hints at a larger underlying issue sparks an immediate and passionate response.

The issue I find most characteristic of the current state of race relations is that, in the absence of any real comprehensive education about the history of race and privilege, whites seems to have created a series of alternative explanations for the state of our society. Having already redefined the terms we use;

RACE-IST = someone who talks about race or racism [see:diversity],

RACE-ISM = the "double standard" that penalizes whites for calling black people 'niggers',

EQUALITY = the 'neutral' state reached when whites do not hear about race, racism, discrimination, inequality, or unfairness,

RACE CARD = any discussion that even suggests an act of racism, racial discrimination, or race consciousness on the part of whites; modern or historical,

BLACK LEADERS = opportunists looking to profit from their own 'race-ist' activity [see: definition above]),

as soon as one articulates an issue or problem, they BECOME the problem. From a debate standpoint, this is a beautiful piece of sophistry... By its contemporary definition, to even Talk about Racism, is to exhibit Race-ism.

Therefore, when we protest or speak out against a perceived wrong or injustice, people are not motivated to act, nor are they motivated to make change; in fact our society has insulated itself against criticisms and charges of racism by creating a false reality wherein inequality doesn't exist as long as nobody talks about it. (It reminds me of an old B-movie named 'Mystery Men' about a group of superheroes with useless super-powers, one of whom could turn invisible, but only as long as nobody looked at him)

Einstein once said, "If an individual commits an injustice he is harassed by his conscience. But nobody is apt to feel responsible for misdeeds of a community, in particular, if they are supported by old traditions. Such is the case with discrimination. Every right-minded person will (one day) be grateful to you for having united to fight this evil that so grievously injures the dignity and the repute of our country. Only by spreading education among all of our people can we approach the ideals of democracy."

What do YOU say? Post a comment and let me know what you think...

Race, Race+Card, Opinion, anti+racist

Bush reappoints Peter Kirsanow to civil rights post - "What happened to the Civil Rights Commission?"

Yesterday, President Bush reappointed attorney Peter Kirsanow to the US Commission on Civil Rights.



This is tragic... But before I "go there", first some background...




The US Commission on Civil Rights was created in 1957 under President Eisenhower. It is a Federal investigative agency whose stated mission is:

• To investigate complaints alleging that citizens are being deprived of their right to vote by reason of their race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or by reason of fraudulent practices.


• To study and collect information relating to discrimination or a denial of equal protection of the laws under the Constitution because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.


• To appraise federal laws and policies with respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin, or in the administration of justice.


• To serve as a national clearinghouse for information in respect to discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws because of race, color, religion, sex, age, disability, or national origin. To submit reports, findings, and recommendations to the President and Congress.


• To issue public service announcements to discourage discrimination or denial of equal protection of the laws.

The US Civil Rights Commission was once a powerful agency that significantly influenced groundbreaking legislation. Its 1961 report was considered by the Congress and the Supreme Court as the intellectual and factual grounding for the provisions of the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act. Its hearings on the disenfranchisement of African Americans in southern precincts and parishes formed the basis of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. In 1978 a Commission report challenging law enforcement agencies to recognize domestic violence as a crime put the issue on the national agenda. By the late 1980s Congress mandated the Law Enforcement Assistance Administration to focus on the “role of the criminal justice system in preventing and controlling violence and abusive behavior in the home.” Moreover, Congress relied on a 1983 Civil Rights Commission report on the challenges disabled persons faced in their daily lives in enacting the Americans with Disabilities Act.

However, despite its history and noble goals, the Commission has since been transformed into an extension of conservative policy making. In its current composition, it serves as little more than a rubber stamp, one which provides the necessary illusion of validation for conservative efforts to eliminate Civil Rights era and racially progressive policies and laws.

While it is intended to serve as a "fact-finding" agency, according to the data listed on their website, they investigated only two (2) complaints of racial employment discrimination between 2002 and 2005, both investigations took nearly a year, and neither was found for the complainants nor resulted in any action on the part of the commission. In fact, the table shows that there were actually 5 pending cases at the start of 2002 and additional cases that were filed with each succeeding year, yet by the end of the report only 3 had been processed (1 age related and 2 race related)

So given the extremely low levels of activity in the area of investigating discrimination, you may be wondering what exactly has the Commission on Civil Rights been doing these past few years...

• They've investigated whether or not HBCU's are effective
• They've presented a position paper urging the Legislature to vote against SB310 the Native Hawaiian Government Reorganization Act of 2007 which would have extended the rights of of self-governance and self-determination to Native Hawaiians in a manner parallel to that of American Indians and Alaska Natives.
• They've issued a position paper stating that voting rights issues "have virtually disappeared" (tell that to the residents of Florida, Ohio, or New Orleans)
• They've issued a report on school desegregation that lists as one of it recommendations that The Department of Justice should continue to provide guidance to assist small or moderately-sized school districts to qualify for and obtain unitary status (thereby releasing them from any court ordered deseg programs and dismantling Brown vs Board) Interestingly enough, their next recommendation was that Social scientists, academics, and relevant government agencies should pursue underlying explanations for differences in measured desegregation among the states. By way of example, researchers might explore whether state differences arise from district autonomy; state law, policy, and guidance; or federal processing of unitary status matters. (So the DOJ should help districts achieve unitary status, then afterwards, Social Scientists should study whether the levels of segregation in public education were the result of having done so)
• and they've issued a position paper stating that Affirmative Action programs may be hurting minority law students by "setting them up for failure".

It is a tragic irony that the 8 member "civil rights commission" is now populated by 6 members who are ideological opposed to virtually all of the programs and policies that came out of the Civil Rights movement. While they each espouse the 'ideals' of the movement, ideals without action or implementation amount to nothing more than thoughts and words. These 'thoughts and words' are then liberally sprinkled throughout reports and recommendations that are in fact designed to eliminate the very policies and programs intended to bring about their realization.

Commissioners Melendez and Yaki jointly dissented the approval of the commission's position on affirmative action in Law programs and described the functioning of the commission as follows:

We respectfully, but vehemently, disagree with the findings, recommendations, and focus of this report issued by the Commission’s conservative majority and (misleadingly) entitled Affirmative Action in American Law Schools.

In a misguided attempt to regain influence in civil rights policy, the Commission majority, for the past two years, has ceased holding formal investigative hearings in favor of informal briefings. Their apparent goal is to influence decision making, free of the pesky quality control procedures and thorough background research that hearing reports require. Agency reports have focused on affirmative action programs and education, reactively advocating an end to all race-conscious policies.

Briefing reports like this one are typical, containing predetermined findings and recommendations that target a particular policy while turning a blind eye to scientific and legal evidence that contradict that policy. This report is a sterling example of the lack of serious scholarship that marks these new briefing reports.

No attempt was made by the Commission to assess the consensus positions of the scientific or legal community on these issues. No independent research was done by the Commission on these issues, nor did they perform a comprehensive review of others’ research. This report does not even fairly reflect the testimony of the informal briefing that is the only basis of this report—the statements of two of the four speakers appear to have been ignored in developing these findings and recommendations.

The agency’s process for drafting reports is fundamentally broken. In place of scholarship, the Commission has gamesmanship. In an unprecedented act, after having voted to publish this report with all dissenting and concurring opinions submitted by May 29, 2007, the Commission majority reopened the record on this report at its May 1, 2007 meeting. Upon motions by Commissioners Taylor and Heriot, the Commission majority postponed publishing this report for two months and allowed all Commissioners to resubmit new opinions. Why?

Commissioner Heriot, after first stating she had an unspecified ethics issue that she wanted a chance to look into and change her comments, tacitly admitted that she wanted a chance to add to her comments in response to our dissent. As with so many votes on our nominally bipartisan Commission, procedures were set aside on a 6-2 vote to allow the six Republican-appointed Commissioners an opportunity to write or rewrite their concurrences to attack our dissent. Such is the integrity and respect for basic procedures at work in generating the agency’s reports.

Now to the reappointment of Commissioner Kirsanow. I find the reappointment of Commissioner Kirsanow particularly troubling and revealing considering that he outwardly opposes affirmative action programs, supports voucher programs for public and private schools and believes that Ronald Reagan should be on Mount Rushmore. He also testified in support of the nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court. In short, he is far from an advocate; he is a political ideologue.

Commissioner Kirsanow was chosen to serve as a federal Civil Rights watchdog, not because of his Civil Rights background or work in the field, in fact, quite the opposite is true. Kirsanow was a partner with the Cleveland, Ohio law firm of Benesch, Friedlander, Coplan, and Aronoff LLP which focused on representing management in employment-related litigation. Placing Kirsanow on the Civil rights Commission is analogous to placing a tobacco lobbyist in the Office of the Surgeon General.

Put simply, Kirsanow was chosen, and now reappointed, specifically because he is a black face willing to give voice to anti-black/neo-negro policy. Not merit, not experience, and not opportunity; this is promotion based on ideology, and that's the only kind of affirmative action that gets a pass...

The Rise of the "Neo-Negro"

This post is from a Special guest contributer to the Blog; My Dad! It's a powerful post, hope you enjoy...

~~~~~~

When you’re called a nigger you look at your father because you think your father can rule the world—every kid thinks that—and then you discover that your father cannot do anything about it. So you begin to despise your father and you realize, oh, that’s what a nigger is.

-James Baldwin (1924–87), U.S. author. A Dialogue (1973; with Nikki Giovanni), from a conversation, 4 Nov. 1971, in London.

The Neo-Negro

Neo-Negroes are Americans of African or mixed African descent who show a marked preference for far right wing neo-conservative ideologies and are opposed to efforts to continue affirmative legal action against racism and discrimination. This designation is particularly applicable to those who, having benefited from affirmative civil rights legislation in the past, now wish to reverse such legislation and deny those benefits to the generations to come.

Not wishing to be all closely associated with Blacks, they tend to seek out friends and long term relationships with non-African Americans, and while it is not unusual for them, like other closet reactionaries, to hide their true motivations behind the convenient cloak of “libertarianism,” their compulsive preoccupation with race becomes all the more obvious by their obsessive focus on ignoring, changing or eliminating racial classifications and reversing civil rights legislation; matters that are of little urgency to true race neutral libertarians.

Their ultimate goal, if carried to its logical conclusions would, in fact, eliminate the black race as a legal entity. It would actually end racial discrimination as a matter of 'law' while leaving racial discrimination as a matter of 'fact', free to spread like a virus with no cure. That is why they are so coveted by the neocon movement. They would end the problem of racism by fiat; eliminate the crime by simply legalizing the act. (One might wonder if they feel equally as libertarian in their position on illegal drug usage…) In any event, they truly live in a fool’s paradise; which is probably amusing to many of their neocon “friends.”

The Neo-Negro solution to racism is the “Unilateral Fiat” used, most infamously, by GW Bush in his “Mission Accomplished” speech to declare unilateral victory over one problem while blithely ignoring the far greater emerging dangers in the ensuing situation.

In similar fashion, from their high towered house of cards, propped up by neocon puppet masters and paid for by civil rights battles of the past, modern self-congratulating Neo-Negroes, can only secure their own prominent positions by declaring mission accomplished and turning a blind eye to the deteriorating situation outside of their own immediate environment. This is the hallmark of the Neo-Negro, who under no circumstances should be confused with the many hard working successful African Americans who openly acknowledge their debt to the civil rights sacrifices of the past and who are still willing to take positive steps to insure that the fruit of that bloody labor is passed on to succeeding generations.

While genuinely concerned African Americans may rightly assert that affirmative action legislation is neither a substitute for positive action on the part of individuals nor a valid excuse for persistent failure in its absence, Neo-Negroes are those who openly declare the problems of racism solved and deny the need for continued affirmative action while the situational effects of racial discrimination persist and in some cases worsen. Try as they may to rationalize their behavior, actively working to weaken or circumvent affirmative action legislation is the Neo-Negro’s ultimate act of betrayal.

African Americans must be made to recognize, rise up and ostracize this insidious enemy from within and declare to the world that the deep seated and pervasively institutionalized effects of racism cannot be eliminated by declaration of the privileged few but must be whittled away by constant vigilance, exposure, determination and positive action.

In that any form of racial discrimination without the power of enforcement is a paper tiger that cannot influence events to any significant degree, accusations of so-called “reverse discrimination” can easily be seen as just another in a long line of tired old strawman maneuvers, covertly financed and directed by entrenched right wing extremists to impede harmonious racial progress. These wily old-school ultra conservatives, after generations of exploiting racial animosity and profiteering from racial discord, were threatened by new understandings, coalitions, open communication, and above all, the affirmative action legislation of the sixties. So they began financing and developing a new strain of neocons to deal with liberals and Neo-Negroes to deal with Blacks.

Like their “Askari” predecessors from around the globe, the Neo-Negroes are rewarded for their willingness to stifle dissent, belittle civil rights activities, openly oppose affirmative action, and make “Negro problems” appear to disappear while leaving the underlying unrest of African American situations essentially unchanged, unchallenged, and unassisted. Sweeping the problem under the rug, as Neo-Negroes would have us do, provides cosmetic improvement to the surface, while the hidden but ever deteriorating foundation is allowed to fester and grow.

Neo-Negroes would have you to believe that those who stand up and fight to address America's racial problems ARE the problem. Traditional Organizations that work for Social Justice are 'Relics', 'useless' or 'unnecessary' because in the Neo-Negro's brave new world, race problems will cease to exist as soon as you stop discussing them. New foundation-funded organizations are created which borrow heavily from the vocabulary and imagery of the Civil Rights Movement, and with Neo-Negroes at the helm, they operate merely as storefronts for the same status-quo that the movement sought to overturn.

Make no mistake about it, these Neo-Negroes are willing to bargain away the civil rights that their ancestors were willing to suffer and die for. They are the arrogant and ungrateful sons and daughters of those whose blood and sweat are the mortar and pestle of roads built over the rocky terrain of racial terrorism, and to their everlasting shame, they have chosen to take the personally profitable path offered to them by the residue of the very forces that fought most fiercely against emancipation, integration and equal opportunity in the past, and now would engage their services as front men in the battle against affirmation action.

Having passed through the narrow corridors of legally mandated equal opportunities opened up to them only through the trials and tribulations of the civil rights movement, these Neo-Negroes now seek to close the doors behind them and give the keys to those who would see them locked once again. They have declared open warfare in well-funded and orchestrated efforts to betray the very acts of positive civil rights legislation that gave them the opportunity to give voice to their treachery. And for this, as long as they behave, they are very well compensated by right wing reactionaries who might otherwise drive them out of their fool’s paradise for a deed undone or misspoken word.

It is precisely because of the precariousness of their positions, over which they have no autonomous control, that they struggle all the harder to overturn the gains of the past and thus keep other African Americans from rising to levels from which they can see into the sham and the hypocrisy of their false bravado. The Neo-Negro house of cards can ill afford the additional weight of their brothers and sisters.

For all of that, the real victim of the Neo-Negro is not the black man or woman who must be better and brighter to be treated as equal. The true victim is the black child, born or yet unborn, coming into this world with no more to guide them than the tools, the system, the laws and legacy we leave behind. Unless we can pass the rights, the liberties, and the opportunities won in the civil rights struggle on to our children and our children’s children then we won nothing; it was all for nothing. That is what the Neo-Negro seems to have forgotten. That’s whose future they would trade for their present self-indulgence.

Claiming that civil rights laws are no longer needed and therefore should be reversed or circumvented makes no more sense than arguing to repeal the Thirteenth Amendment because legal slavery has ended. An important question for us to consider is why are human rights and civil rights laws kept on the books long after the urgent need for them is ended? What is their purpose? The Neo-Negro says we should do away with them. Feeling confident that their problems are apparently solved for their lifetime, they see no need for the continued existence of such laws to protect others. After having received their comfortable foundation funded offices, hand-picked appointments, and fast-tracked promotions on the basis of their special talent they can no longer see the need for such laws not only to undo wrongs of the past and protect us in the present, but even more importantly, to secure our future and the future of our children.

RMyles

The Neo-Negro Show
By light of day he is confident enough to need no big show of confidence
He swaggers just a bit, not too much, just the right amount
In dark of night he prays that no one will see through his false bravado
Not just yet. Not just yet. He is not yet ready for such exposure
-RM

Tech Tags: Neo-Negro Race Discrimination Affirmative+Action Steele Thomas Meyers Connerly Current+Affairs Social+Commentary

NAACP-supported Employment Non-Discrimination Act scheduled to be considered by the full U.S. House THIS WEEK

DATE: October 23, 2007
TO: Concerned Parties
FROM: Hilary O. Shelton, Director, Washington Bureau

THE ISSUE

Blatant employment discrimination strips away the right of each individual American to be judged on their merits and abilities. Every American must be allowed to contribute to society without facing unfair discrimination on account of race, ethnicity, gender, religion, disability or sexual orientation. It exacerbates our ongoing national fight against bigotry and intolerance when anyone is left unprotected.

It is currently legal in 38 states to fire or otherwise discriminate against someone solely because they are perceived to be gay or lesbian. Thus t