Civil Rights Champion and Former NAACP Executive Director Dr. Benjamin Hooks has passed away...

Posted from: The Herald-Mail

Benjamin L. Hooks, a champion of minorities and the poor who as executive director of the NAACP increased the group’s stature, has died. He was 85.

State Rep. Ulysses Jones, a member of the church where Hooks was pastor, said Hooks died early Thursday at his home, following a long illness.

Hooks became executive director of the NAACP in 1977, taking over a group that was $1 million in debt and shrunk to 200,000 members from nearly a half-million in the 1950s and 1960s. He pledged to increase enrollment and raise money for the organization.

“Black Americans are not defeated,” he told Ebony magazine soon after his induction. “The civil rights movement is not dead. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop agitating, they had better think again. If anyone thinks that we are going to stop litigating, they had better close the courts. If anyone thinks that we are not going to demonstrate and protest, they had better roll up the sidewalks.”

By the time he ended his position as executive director in 1992, the group rebounded, with membership growing by several hundred thousand. Toward this, he created community radiothons to make the public more aware of activities by local NAACP branches and boost membership.

“He came in at a time the NAACP was struggling and gave it a strong foundation. He brought dignity and strong leadership to the organization,” Jones said.

Hooks also created an initiative that expanded employment opportunities for blacks in Major League Baseball and launched a program where corporations participated in economic development projects in black communities.

“The nation best remembers Benjamin Hooks as the leader of the NAACP,” President George W. Bush said in 2007 when he presented Hooks with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, one of the country’s highest civilian honors. “Dr. Hooks was a calm yet forceful voice for fairness, opportunity and personal responsibility. He never tired or faltered in demanding that our nation live up to its founding ideals of liberty and equality.”

Nearly two decades earlier, Hooks pleaded with Bush’s father, then-President George H.W. Bush, for action on a string of gasoline bomb attacks in the South that killed in December 1989 a federal judge in Alabama and a black civil rights lawyer in Savannah, Ga.

The same month, another bomb was intercepted at an NAACP office in Jacksonville, Fla. and an Atlanta television station received a letter threatening more attacks on judges, attorneys and NAACP leaders.

“We believe that this latest incident is an effort to intimidate our association, to strike fear in our hearts,” he said at the time. “It will not succeed. We intend to go about our business, but we will most certainly be taking precautions.”

Walter Leroy Moody, now 75, was convicted of the killings and other charges in 1997 and remains on Alabama’s death row.

Hooks’ inspiration to fight social injustice and bigotry stemmed from his experience of guarding Italian prisoners of war while serving overseas in the Army during World War II — foreign prisoners were allowed to eat in “for whites only” restaurants while he was barred from them.

When no law school in the South would admit him, he used the GI bill to attend DePaul University in Chicago, where he earned a law degree in 1948. He later opened his own law practice in his hometown of Memphis, Tenn.

“At that time you were insulted by law clerks, excluded from white bar associations and when I was in court, I was lucky to be called ’Ben,”’ he once said in an interview with Jet magazine. “Usually it was just ’boy.”’

In 1965 he was appointed to a newly created seat on the Tennessee Criminal Court, making him the first black judge since Reconstruction in a state trial court anywhere in the South.

“It was a national story for a black in the Deep South to be nominated for a judgeship,” he said years later.

President Richard Nixon nominated Hooks to the Federal Communications Commission in 1972. He was its first black commissioner, serving for five years before resigning to lead the NAACP.

“Hooks’ career as a Federal Communications Commissioner did change the organization,” according to the 1995 book, ’Commissioners of the FCC.’ “He regarded the minorities and the poor as his constituency.”

At the FCC, he addressed the lack of minority leadership in media and persuaded the commission to propose a new rule requiring TV and radio stations to be offered publicly before they could be sold. Minority employment in broadcasting grew from 3 percent to 15 percent during his tenure.

He later was the chairman of the board of directors of the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis and helped create The Benjamin L. Hooks Institute for Social Change at the University of Memphis.

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The Southern Poverty Law Center reports an alarming rise in the number of active Hate Groups in the US

From white power skinheads decrying "President Obongo" at a racist gathering in rural Missouri, to neo-Nazis and Ku Klux Klansmen hurling epithets at Latino immigrants from courthouse steps in Oklahoma, to anti-Semitic black separatists calling for death to Jews on bustling street corners in several East Coast cities, hate group activity in the U.S. was disturbing and widespread throughout 2008, as the number of hate groups operating in America continued to rise. Last year, 926 hate groups were active in the U.S., up more than 4% from 888 in 2007. That's more than a 50% increase since 2000, when there were 602 groups.

As in recent years, hate groups were animated by the national immigration debate. But two new forces also drove them in 2008: the worsening recession, and Barack Obama's successful campaign to become the nation's first black president. Officials reported that Obama had received more threats than any other presidential candidate in memory, and several white supremacists were arrested for saying they would assassinate him or allegedly plotting to do so.

Click HERE to read the SPLC's full report 

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The Philadelphia NAACP accuses CVS of 'Red-lining'

Reposted from: The Philadelphia Inquirer
Publication date: 2008-12-05


Dec. 5--A coalition of community groups led by the Philadelphia chapter of the NAACP strongly criticized CVS Pharmacies yesterday, accusing the chain of failing to provide customers equal access to stores and services in Philadelphia.

At a news conference at NAACP headquarters in the 1900 block of Cecil B. Moore Avenue, chapter president J. Whyatt Mondesire called CVS "a lousy corporate citizen," an accusation that the company strongly disputed.

Citing a yearlong study sponsored by Change to Win, a labor coalition of 6 million workers from seven major unions, Mondesire said the report showed "questionable product quality, overcharging, lax privacy protection, and consumer-safety issues" at CVS stores.

The report said that in the Philadelphia region, CVS operates 48 percent more stores in the wealthiest areas than in the least wealthy. There are one-third fewer CVS stores per person in communities with a majority of nonwhite residents than in communities that are mostly white, according to the report.

"Drugstore red-lining is a real problem," Mondesire said. "Health care is a critical issue in Philadelphia, and when people don't have access to get their prescriptions filled or get formula for their babies to take care of their basic needs, it does affect the way they live."

Lauren Townsend, head of the Philadelphia chapter of the National Organization for Women, said women make up 80 percent of the customer base at CVS stores "but women of color don't have the same access that white women do, because CVS has been closing stores in communities of color and opening up new stores in predominantly white communities."

Among the community groups in the coalition are the activist organization Health Care for America Now, Project HOME, Pennsylvania ACORN, the Women's Community Revitalization Project, the Friends Neighborhood Guild, and the Living Water United Church of Christ.

In addition to the news conference in Philadelphia, demonstrations took place outside CVS stores yesterday in New York City, Los Angeles, Detroit, Boston and other cities, organizers said.

In a statement, CVS Caremark said it respected the NAACP and its mission but disagreed with its assertions.

"We do not discriminate in our policies or store operations or tolerate discrimination of any kind in our organization. We will carefully review the information that has been released and contact the NAACP to follow up."

Without elaborating, CVS Caremark asserted that Change to Win was the force behind the allegations.

The company said that since 2007, Change to Win "has attempted to pressure CVS to deny our employees the full benefit of voting rights afforded to them under federal law. This 'report' and the accompanying media outreach is the latest attempt by CTW to achieve this objective."

Change to Win is a coalition of seven major unions established in 2005. It consists of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the Laborers International Union of North America, Service Employees International, the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, United Farm Workers of America, United Food and Commercial Workers International and United Here.

Asked why CVS was selected for the study, Mondesire said other pharmacy chains had not drawn as many complaints.

Despite the demonstrations in other cities, Mondesire said no protests were planned at Philadelphia-area CVS stores in the near future.

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NAACP approves 3-year contract for President Benjamin Jealous

Reposted from the Baltimore Sun
By John-John Williams IV
August 31, 2008

The national board of directors of the NAACP overwhelmingly approved a three-year contract yesterday for Benjamin Todd Jealous, its new president.

Jealous, 35, who was not present when the board members voted at the BWI Marriott Hotel, later joined them to sign the contract. Board Chairman Julian Bond said he was "overjoyed" by the developments.

The board members were "very accepting," Bond said after the four-hour meeting. The board approved the contract by a vote of 35-2, with one abstention.

The two dissenting votes were in protest of procedure, not of Jealous, according to Bond, who would not say who voted in opposition.

The 16-page contract takes effect Sept. 15. Jealous will attend his first board meeting as president Oct. 18. That meeting will be held in Baltimore, Bond said.

Jealous takes over from interim President Dennis C. Hayes, who had been leading the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People for 13 months after replacing Bruce S. Gordon, who left in March 2007 after clashing with the board.

The board elected Jealous president by a 34-21 vote during a contentious eight-hour closed-door meeting in May. Some said Jealous, a California native, was too young to lead the century-old organization.

Since then, Jealous has done a good job of fundraising and making the organization's presence known on a national level, according to several board members.

"He's done an outstanding job already," said Vice Chairman Roslyn M. Brock. "We're confident he will do a great job going forward."

Brock called the contract "fair." Officials would not release details of the contract's provisions.

"We're pleased to come out of this session having the board members have the opportunity to give feedback and input," Brock said.

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Congress Passes HEA Reauthorization!

Guest Post from: Heather Valentine
Council for Opportunity in Education

On July 31, 2008, both chambers of Congress passed the Higher Education Opportunity Act by overwhelming majorities. Specifically, the bill passed by a vote of 380-49 in the House and a vote of 83-8 in the Senate. As the legislation heads to President Bush's desk for signature, the recently released statement of Education Secretary Margaret Spellings gives COE strong hope that he will, in fact, sign the bill into law.

This legislation reauthorized the Higher Education Act of 1965 for the first time in 10 years and included numerous provisions that enhance TRIO programs. Specifically, this legislation:

• extends all TRIO grants from four to five years;
• increases the minimum TRIO grant to $200,000;
• allows branch campuses to apply for TRIO grants;
• creates an appeals process for unsuccessful TRIO grant applicants;
• kills the Upward Bound Absolute Priority, including the double-recruitment evaluation
• and ensures that any future evaluation of TRIO programs protects the integrity of students and institutions by disallowing over-recruitment and denial of services for the purposes of an evaluation and requiring the consideration of institutional review boards and the burdens placed on TRIO program participants and grantees;

It also allows TRIO grantees to target student populations with particular needs, including:

• students with limited English proficiency
• disabled students
• homeless and foster youth
• "disconnected youth" (i.e., teen parents and students who have been involved in the criminal justice system)

It also expands eligibility for Veterans Upward Bound to include:

• older veterans who served before January 31, 1955
• federal reservists who served for more than 30 days
• federal reservists called to action on or after September 11, 2001

In addition to changes that benefit TRIO, the legislation also:

• creates a simplified, 2-page Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) application form;
• allows students to receive Pell Grants year-round;
• expands eligibility for the Academic Competitiveness and National SMART grant programs; and
• creates greater educational access for servicemen and women and their families through deferred and interest-free loans.

These are only some of the enhancements created by this bill that will benefit American students in pursuit of higher education. Please be sure to thank your Member of Congress for their support for this important piece of legislation. For your convenience, we have drafted a sample thank you letter here.

Thank you all for your tremendous efforts in achieving this great victory for all TRIO students!

Tech Tags: Higher+Education Higher+Education+Opportunity+Act TRIO Upward+Bound

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Lockheed Martin to pay 2.5 Million to settle Racial Harassment Lawsuit

HONOLULU -- The U.S Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) today announced a major settlement of a race discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest military contractor, for $2,500,000 and other relief on behalf of an African American electrician who was subjected to a racially hostile work environment at several job sites nationwide – including threats of lynching and the “N-word.”

The monetary relief for former Lockheed employee Charles Daniels is the largest amount ever obtained by the EEOC for a single person in a race discrimination case, and one of the largest amounts recovered for an individual in any litigation settlement by the agency. Additionally, the Bethesda, Md.-based company agreed to terminate the harassers and make significant policy changes to address any future discrimination, the EEOC said at a press conference in Hawaii.

The EEOC’s suit, filed in August 2005, alleged that Daniels was subjected to severe racial harassment while working on military aircrafts as part of a field service team in Jacksonville, Fla., Whidbey Island, Wash., and Oah’u, Hawaii. The EEOC charged that Daniels was the target of persistent verbal abuse by coworkers and a supervisor whose racial slurs and offensive language included calling him the “N-word” and saying “we should do to blacks what Hitler did to the Jews” and “if the South had won then this would be a better country.” Daniels was also subjected to multiple physical threats, such as lynching and other death threats after he reported the harassment. Despite its legal obligations, Lockheed failed to discipline the harassers and instead allowed the discrimination against Daniels to continue unabated – even though the company was aware of the unlawful conduct.

Commenting on the settlement, Daniels said: “As an armed forces veteran who swore to defend the rights and interest of Americans around the globe, I find it sad that the U.S. government had to sue its largest defense contractor Lockheed Martin -- whose slogan is ‘We never forget who we’re working for’ -- to protect my rights here at home!”

Daniels added, “I am pleased that we stood up for justice, because it should help all hard-working Americans of every race and gender to know that we have rights and protections guaranteed under the laws of this nation.”

EEOC Regional Attorney William Tamayo said, “This is a very good resolution because Lockheed Martin agreed to terminate and permanently bar Daniel’s harassers from employment. It sends a powerful message that racism cannot and must not be tolerated.”

Raymond Cheung, the EEOC attorney who led the government’s litigation effort, added, “To combat the harassment and threats faced by Mr. Daniels is at the heart of why the EEOC was created. Despite concerns of retaliation, this man had the courage to stand up and make public what happened to him, in an effort to ensure that it would not happen to anyone else. It has been a once-in-a-lifetime honor to work on this case.”

The litigation and consent decree were filed by the EEOC under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in the U.S. Court for the District of Hawaii (U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission v. Lockheed Martin, CV-05-00479).

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EEOC Honolulu Local Office Director Timothy Riera praised the agency’s lead investigator in the case, Gloria Gervacio, and said: “The overt harassment to which Mr. Daniels was subjected in Hawaii represents some of the most severe misconduct this office has come across. It is imperative that employers here take proactive measures to ensure that discrimination complaints are taken seriously and that all employees work in an environment free of harassment.”

Racial harassment charge filings with EEOC offices nationwide have more than doubled since the early 1990s from 3,075 in Fiscal Year 1991 to approximately 7,000 in FY 2007 (based on preliminary year-end data). Additionally, race remains the most frequently alleged basis of discrimination in charges brought to the EEOC, accounting for about 36% of the agency’s private sector caseload.

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On Feb. 28, 2007, EEOC Chair Naomi C. Earp launched the Commission's E-RACE Initiative (Eradicating Racism And Colorism from Employment), a national outreach, education, and enforcement campaign focusing on new and emerging race and color issues in the 21st century workplace. Further information about the E-RACE Initiative is available on the EEOC’s web site at http://www.eeoc.gov/initiatives/e-race/index.html

The EEOC enforces federal laws prohibiting employment discrimination based on race, color, gender, religion, national origin, age and disability. Further information about the EEOC is available on its web site at http://www.eeoc.gov

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NAACP college chapter forming at WSU

BY CHRISTINA M. WOODS
Reposted from The Wichita Eagle
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An NAACP chapter is forming at Wichita State University. "It's another chapter to bring socially conscious people together to really advocate for equality and justice, higher education, proactive leadership and scholarships," said Aonya Kendrick, a WSU senior who is laying the groundwork for the chapter.
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The regional branch of the NAACP chartered the WSU college chapter in late October, according to the Rev. Gil Ford, an NAACP Regional Director.
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The campus NAACP chapter still must be recognized by the university before it can formally operate. Kendrick said that process could conclude by January.
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The NAACP has more than 30,000 young people representing 600 youth councils, high school chapters and college chapters nationwide. Membership in college chapters is open to students under age 25.
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The WSU chapter would not replace the university's existing African American Student Association, which works to promote diversity and multiculturalism, Kendrick said.
The two organizations, she said, would remain separate but work toward common goals.
Washburn University in Topeka has the only other active NAACP college chapter in Kansas, Ford said.
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Reach Christina M. Woods at 316-269-6791 or cwoods@wichitaeagle.com.
© 2007 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved. http://www.kansas.com

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Race on the Web

I wish I could take credit for this post, but I can't. This was article was posted in the comments section of a story on Newsvine by someone going by the initials "BT". I found the post very informative and well assembled, so I decided to repost it here. Props to you BT!

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This is a paper on how Hate messages are distributed on the Web. While the discussion is of the more crude, fringe groups (KKK, Aryan, Skinhead) - it pretty much depicts the same themes as brought forth by the petaloonie, conservative racists who often hire black conservatives to advance their more -

http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue7_10/rajagopal/

In general, these attacks play on 5 themes:

1. Black Dysfunctionality - That black folks are less intelligent, perform worse on tests, have lower educational indicators, commit more crime, etc. Where numbers don’t exist to support the premise, they make them up, and/or selectively parse data to support their points.

2. White Victimhood - A old time favorite is white women being raped by Giant Negroes, but other favorites are “unqualified blacks are stealing white jobs/education/etc.” (AA), “our values are being destroyed by the brown/black wave”, “the welfare queen”, “only white folks are convicted of Hate Crimes”, and the newest venue - “Black Racism”.

3. It’s Not Racism - the cruder groups claim that “white nationalism” or “white pride” aren’t racism. The typical construct of this is “Why are there black organizations when ‘white’ organizations are considered racist?” Variations include “Christian Identity” - “I’m a christian, not a racist!” . There are a number of rationales to provide cover for the underlying racism.

4. A “Negro” said it! - This is a favorite of the conservative right. It boils down to utilizing a small group of “captive negroes” to say things which otherwise would be considered racist - and to provide cover for white conservatives (My best friend is a Negro!). Possibly the most ludicrous example of this is here:

http://www.scvcamp469-nbf.com/theblackconfederatesoldier.htm

In any oppressed community it’s possible to find folks who are so psychologically damaged that they will work against the very community they come from. Whether selling heroin on street corners to neighborhood kids, or pandering the right’s need for Negroes to provide racial cover - the dynamic, and morality are the same.

A good article on how the conservative racist right utilizes these folks:

http://www.alternet.org/story/19294/?page=1

You have to remember, that bashing black folks is a $40 -100 million industry, funded by the very same folks who fund the conservative movement. Like the enticement of “easy money” in the drug industry, black conservatives willing to front for “the Man”, can rake in salaries and book sales in excess of $250,000 a year. Indeed, the bashing black folks industry can provide the black conservative far more media and ego polishing recognition than they are ever going to earn in their field of study through quantitative accomplishments.

5. “Black folks are whiners!” – The crux of this argument goes something like this: “We’ve given black folks equality and welfare, and they are still whining! They need to get a job and learn to take care of themselves and stop being a drain on white’s wallets.” Favorite punching bags are Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, who magically become responsible for every word uttered by a black person.

This is a list of Hate Organizations posting on the WWW -

http://www.bcpl.net/~rfrankli/hatedir.htm

An amusing article about Project21, a “black” conservative group of which I believe Michael Meyers, who actually penned the article by pettyloon above was a member:

http://atheism.about.com/b/2004/07/30/blackwashing-what-black-conservative-movement.htm

Principal Funders of Academic racism –

http://www.splcenter.org/intel/intelreport/article.jsp?sid=370

This is by no means a complete list. Much of the “mainstream” racism is funded by 4 Foundations – variously called the “4 Sisters”.

Who funds the “re-segregation movement”, and lines the pockets of many black conservatives?

• Scaife Family Foundations

The Scaife Family Foundations. Sarah Scaife, Carthage and Allegheny are funded by industrial tycoon Richard Mellon Scaife, who inherited $200 million from his mother in the 1960s. He was a presidential appointment of the U.S. Advisory Commission for Public Diplomacy during the Reagan and first Bush administrations.

Scaife gave former U.S. attorney general Edwin Meese $1.9 million to start PLF. Between 1985 and 2005, Scaife gave more than $4.5 million to PLF. He is the primary supporter of the Heritage Foundation, of which he is a trustee and Meese a former staff member. Many Heritage Foundation staff members held or hold high-ranking federal positions, including current Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao and former U.S. Civil Rights Commission (UCCR) staff director and Manhattan Institute fellow Linda Chavez, founder of the right-wing Center for Equal Opportunity (CEO).

Scaife funds Connerly’s ACRI, Chavez’s CEO, and the Center for Individual Rights, which together comprise the triumvirate leading the campaign to end affirmative action. Other major grant recipients include the National Association of Scholars, co-author of Prop. 209, which banned affirmative action in California, and the Manhattan Institute for Public Policy Research. UCCR Vice Chair Abigail Thernstrom, a Manhattan Institute senior fellow, is on the board of the Equal Opportunity Foundation, which directs funding for CEO.

• Castle Rock Foundation

Coors Brewing Co.’s support for anti-gay groups led to a 10-year boycott led by AFL-CIO in 1977. Pressured to reform, Coors began funding black and Latino groups through the Adolph Coors Foundation and became one of the first companies to offer domestic-partner benefits to employees in 1995. In 1993, the Coors family created Castle Rock to separate the Coors name from its conservative agenda. The Castle Rock and Adolph Coors Foundations have the same board of directors, the same staff and the same address.

Coors co-owner Joseph Coors founded and financed the conservative Heritage Foundation, which later received most of its support from Richard Mellon Scaife. Coors was a Heritage trustee until March 2003. Ambassador Holland Coors, President Reagan’s appointment to the National Year of the Americas, has been on the board since 1998. Major grant recipients include the Heritage Foundation, the National Association of Scholars and the Institute for Justice, which was founded by anti-affirmative-action leader Clint Bolick, a disciple of ultraconservative U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas. Castle Rock gave PLF $340,000 between 1985 and 2005. Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF), a right-wing legal advocacy group founded in 1973, represents the Seattle parents in the recent Supreme Court case eliminating even voluntary integration. In 2001, PLF represented Ward Connerly’s American Civil Rights Institute (ACRI) and provided pro-bono counsel to then Calif. Gov. Pete Wilson in a successful effort to expand the scope of Prop. 209, which banned affirmative action in public education, employment and contracting.

• Olin Foundation

The New York-based John M. Olin Foundation grew out of a family-owned chemical and munitions manufacturing business. The foundation, which dissolved in 2005, was charged with spending all assets within a generation of Olin’s death, lest its mission be altered. Grant recipients included CEO, the Heritage Foundation, the National Association of Scholars and the Manhattan Institute. Specifically, Olin funded the research of CEO founder Linda Chavez and former Secretary of Education William Bennett.

When former Olin Foundation President Michael Joyce left to run the Bradley Foundation, William Simon, who was secretary of the treasury for Nixon and Ford, took over. Joyce had worked under Simon at a neoconservative think-tank prior to joining Olin, and it was Simon who asked him to take the helm at Bradley. Olin gave PLF $669,000 between 1985 and 2005.

• Bradley Foundation

The Allen-Bradley Company, a manufacturer of electronic and radio equipment, was one of the last major Milwaukee-based companies to racially integrate, which it did only under legal pressure. In 1968, the company had 7,000 employees, only 32 of whom were black and 14 Latino. When the Allen-Bradley company was sold in 1985, the name of the foundation was changed to the Lynne and Harry Bradley Foundation to separate the company name from its conservative cause.

Bradley is the principal supporter of Connerly’s ACRI. ACRI co-chair Thomas Rhodes is on the Bradley board of directors. Bradley Foundation President Michael Joyce, formerly with the Olin Foundation, served on President Reagan’s transition team and other presidential commissions and worked closely with William Bennett prior to his appointment as Secretary of Education.

The foundation gives to the Institute for Justice, where founder Clint Bolick drafted a federal bill to eliminate affirmative action. Other major grant recipients include the Heritage Foundation, the National Association of Scholars and the American Enterprise Institute, a literary outlet for conservative thinkers such as William Bennett and U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who will take part in deciding the Seattle case this December. Bradley gave PLF $327,000 between 1985 and 2005.

Tech Tags: Diversity Race Racism Current+Affairs Social+Commentary

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Why is the Only "Good" Civil Rights Leader a Dead One?

Reposted from "The Debate Link"

As an online discussion concerning race grows longer, the probability of a person referencing Martin Luther King, Jr. as a means to justify their racist and/or ignorant attitudes approaches one. Many contemporary anti-racism activists have expressed frustration in the way MLK--and indeed, the entire 60s civil rights movement--has been "neutered" so as to mask just how radical and revolutionary its agenda was (and, by extension, how far short we fell from achieving it).

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I've noticed, along with this, a meme that floats around the conservative right that tries to split the "good" civil rights activists of the 60s, whose cause was laudable and just (though not, it's worth noting, during the 60s themselves, as anyone who has read National Review articles from that time knows) from the next generation of Black leaders, who are charlatans and "race-baiters."

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Dr. King is the emblem of the former group, and perhaps its only political member; virtually no other civil rights pioneer of that era gets similar treatment. Dr. King serves as an apt model because he is quite conveniently dead, and thus unable to take positions that might be inopportune for his more conservative supporters. Had he not been assassinated, I firmly believe that White America would not have accorded King his current valorized status, for the precise reason that it would have been that much more difficult to mythologize his legacy if he was alive to contest it. Hence we have the title of the post: The only "good" civil rights leaders is, quite literally, a dead one.

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This splitting of the past (or "past", see my third point) and present civil rights leadership is entirely unjustified. First, there is very little division in the controversial elements of the political agenda of the 1960s Black community and the current Black community. "Color-conscious" remedies were always on the table. Black leaders were not hesitant to indict White America for their racism.

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Barbara Ransby notes the position of Ella Baker (a top SCLC and SNCC organizer) that "previously oppressive practices had to be radically reversed, not simply halted...and corrective measures had to be put into place" [Barbara Ransby, Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement: A Radical Democratic Vision (Chapel Hill: UNC Press, 2003), 369]. Dr. King, too, was neither particularly accommodating towards the hurt feelings of White moderates, nor opposed to remedial racial preferences. To the former, he suggested in his Letters from a Birmingham Jail that they were possibly more damaging to the prospects of Black liberation than the Klan, "more devoted to 'order' than to justice" and perpetually urging Black activists to "wait" for the time to be ripe for civil rights reform (a time that would never come). To the latter, King wrote in Why We Can't Wait:

Whenever this issue of compensatory or preferential treatment for the Negro is raised, some of our friends recoil in horror. The Negro should be granted equality, they agree, but he should ask for nothing more. On the surface, this appears reasonable, but it is not realistic. For it is obvious that if a man enters the starting line of a race three hundred years after another man, the first would have to perform some incredible feat in order to catch up.

If one reads the actual writings of 1960s civil rights activists -- from Martin Luther King, Ella Baker and Thurgood Marshall to Stokely Carmichael, Harold Cruse, and Malcolm X -- it is nearly impossible to place any of them as color-blind assimilationists, or moderate accommodationists. They wanted change, they wanted it now, and they wanted it to come with the explicit awareness that Blacks were the victims of an intense and systematic campaign of White supremacy that affected and infected all levels of society, far beyond laws that said "Black" and "White". Placing them in any other historical or political framework is naked historical revisionism, pure and simple.

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Second, the characteristics associated with the latter group of civil rights activists are rhetorically and substantively identical to those ascribed by White racists in the 60s to the first group. At that time, too, vocal Black leaders were invariably called "agitators" (the contemporary analogue to "race-baiter"), or folks concerned more with their own personal publicity than the needs of ordinary Black people. The "special rights" charge has a long pedigree, dating back to President Andrew Johnson's veto of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 on the grounds it gave special rights to Blacks.

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Similarly, the White press often focused on personal scandals and salacious details of activist's personal lives as an excuse for ignoring the substance of their critiques. Along all these axes, the purported nostalgia for the last generation of civil rights leaders is nothing but a facade. It masks the importation of the same racist tropes used against King and his cohorts to the current crop of civil rights leaders. We should be suspicious of these echoes.

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Third, and most importantly, the split between the 60s activists and the current ones is ridiculous because often we're talking about the same people. Jesse Jackson was one of Dr. King's top associates later in his career. Rep. John Lewis (D-GA), deacon of the Congressional Black Caucus, was beaten as a freedom rider in Alabama in 1961. Thurgood Marshall articulated much of the progressive Black legal agenda while a litigator for the NAACP, and then while serving on the Supreme Court bench up through the early 90s. Maya Angelou was a close friend of Malcolm X, as well as a coordinator for King's SCLC at Dr. King's request. Julian Bond helped found SNCC. Andrew Young was Executive Director of the SCLC and one of King's key lieutenants. By and large, the folks currently represented among the Black leaders were the same folks leading the charge in the 60s civil rights movement. It's schizophrenic to the extreme to simultaneously praise and condemn the same people for the same advocacies in the same words.

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Again, Martin Luther King is a useful tool for justifying racism because he died so young. Being dead, he can't contest or contextualize the actual content of his beliefs. Being dead, he can't remind audiences of the criticisms and abuse he was subjected to during his campaigns, and how it is eerily reminiscent of the charges foisted upon contemporary Black leaders. And being dead, he is no longer a political threat, and thus is a safe person to prop up upon an altar and praise.

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Were he alive, we might be faced with the uncomfortable prospect that this great hero of American history might demand we actually fulfill our covenant with Black citizens, and that would require actual change and reform and sacrifice. Dead people tell no such tales.

Tech Tags: Civil+Rights NAACP Discrimination Activists Activism Current+Events Current+affairs

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Officials say paraphernalia law is working

This is a repost from today's Wichita Eagle Newspaper dealing with the new Kansas Drug Paraphernalia Law. The law was a part of the Wichita Branch NAACP's "Broken Windows" Campaign, designed to deal with quality of life issues affecting our community. The bill was written by the Wichita Branch NAACP, the Methamphetamine prevention project, and the KBI. It was introduced into the legislature last session by Representative (and Branch Member) Oletha Faust-Goodeau. It was signed by the Governor and tool the force of law just this Summer and it has already resulted in the removal of drug paraphernalia (crack and meth pipes) from all retail outlets in the city of Wichita.

In fact, just last month, the WPD raided the KC gas station that I'd blogged about here, and seized 3,000 pieces of paraphernalia.

~~~~~~

BY DEB GRUVER

The Wichita Eagle

A new law that targets the sale of drug paraphernalia is doing what proponents had hoped it would: getting glass pipes and other gadgets used for smoking illegal drugs off convenience store counters, officials say.

"I don't see it anywhere now," Kevin Myles, president of the Wichita chapter of the NAACP, said Friday of paraphernalia. His group was instrumental in getting the law, which went into effect in July, passed. Myles and other members of the NAACP initially identified 13 stores in Wichita where paraphernalia was openly sold.

Months later, Myles says, none of those stores are selling such products. Members of the NAACP have been monitoring stores in the area since the law took effect. "There's one I'm not 100 percent about," Myles said. "The owner has removed it before by putting it back behind the shelves."

So far, Myles is happy with the law's results. So is Rep. Oletha Faust-Goudeau. She said a convenience store in Topeka near the state Capitol no longer is selling paraphernalia and neither is a Wichita store near 25th and Hillside. "People seem to be getting the message," she said.

First arrests under law
Earlier this month, Wichita police arrested two men at the KC Gas & Groceries convenience store who they say were knowingly selling pipes for smoking crack cocaine and methamphetamine.
That case has not yet been presented by police to the Sedgwick County district attorney's office but is scheduled to be, said Capt. Ken Atnip. The case would include felony charges because the store, at Seneca and Maple, is within 1,000 feet of Allison Middle School.

Atnip said police are not interested in hassling business owners but hope the new law will be a tool to help keep drugs off the streets.

At least 45 states have laws on the books regarding drug paraphernalia, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. Before Kansas' new law, police had to find residue on pipes and other paraphernalia to arrest someone for possession of paraphernalia or prove that the person intended to use the products illegally.

During meetings in Topeka about the new law, two Wichita store owners who sell pipes and other smoking instruments testified that their goods were for tobacco. But Wichita Deputy Police Chief Tom Stolz said in an earlier Eagle story, "Never in 25 years of policing have I found someone smoking tobacco out of a bong."

David Nelson, the lawyer for the owner and manager of KC Gas & Groceries, said neither he nor his clients had any comment about the pending case. He said he was waiting to see more documentation in the case.

A matter of education
Police have not made any other arrests under the new law. The KC Gas & Groceries case was similar to arrests in other jurisdictions. Across the nation, police have been using such laws to try to make a dent in drug use and drug-related crimes. Officers may issue warnings in some cases to people unaware of the new law, Atnip said. "There are people who need to be educated" and then people who know they are flouting the law, he said. "We are not in the business of surprising people," Stolz said. Part of police work, he said, is educating people about new laws and ordinances.

Atnip said he had received calls from store owners who wanted clarification about the new law.
"If you suspect that's what the material is being used for, you probably shouldn't be selling it," Atnip said.

Wichita residents who see paraphernalia at stores should call police, Atnip said.

© 2007 Wichita Eagle and wire service sources. All Rights Reserved.

Tech Tags: drug drug+paraphernalia NAACP

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Southwick filibuster fails, Senate confirms controversial judge

Reposted from "the Carpetbagger Report"


In June, Senate Republicans threatened a “major meltdown” in the chamber unless Senate Dems cleared the way for Leslie Southwick’s confirmation to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. Regrettably, the GOP got exactly what it wanted today.

Leslie Southwick’s controversial nomination to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals was approved by the Senate Wednesday, 59-38, shortly after a bipartisan group of Senators narrowly surpassed a critical 60-vote threshold to avert a filibuster.

The 62-35 vote on the key procedural motion all but assured Southwick’s confirmation to the federal appellate bench, as the vote on final passage only required a simple majority.
…Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) said the vote helped the Senate duck “serious consequences” for the future of the institution.

There have been quite a few veiled threats of late over the Southwick nomination, with Republicans vowing a full-blown partisan war unless he won Senate approval. In this sense, the good news is the chamber will avoid yet another ugly fight. The bad news is, too many Senate Dems caved (again) and an awful Bush judicial nominee gets a lifetime appointment to a key judicial seat.

For a while, it looked like Dems had the votes to block Southwick in committee, but then Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) let us down. Then, it looked like Dems had the votes to block Southwick on the floor, but that was before Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) let us down, striking some nebulous deal with Republicans, whereby Southwick wins confirmation in exchange for GOP support on some spending bills.

Of all the judicial nominees for Republicans to go to war over, Southwick was the wrong one. Emily Bazelon’s explained a while back that Southwick’s confirmation hearings helped highlight what kind of judge he is.

As a judge on the Mississippi Court of Appeals for 12 years, Leslie Southwick participated in more than 7,000 cases. Now he is President Bush’s nominee for a long-vacant seat on the Fifth Circuit, one of the federal appeals courts. At Southwick’s confirmation hearing, Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., asked him to give an example of an unpopular decision he’d made in favor of somebody downtrodden — a poor person, or a member of a minority group, or someone who’d simply turned to the courts for help. Judge Southwick couldn’t name a single one.

The question might sound like a bit of a stunt. But other data show that Judge Southwick’s answer fits with his larger record. He has a pattern of voting against workers and the injured and in favor of corporations. According to the advocacy group Alliance for Justice, Southwick voted “against the injured party and in favor of business interests” in 160 of 180 cases that gave rise to a dissent and that involved employment law and injury-based suits for damages. When one judge on a panel dissents in a case, there’s an argument it could come out either way, which makes these cases a good measure of how a judge thinks when he’s got some legal leeway. In such cases, Judge Southwick almost never favors the rights of workers or people who’ve suffered discrimination or been harmed by a shoddy product.

And from the NYT’s recent editorial urging the Senate to reject Southwick’s nomination.

President Bush’s latest appeals court nominee, Leslie Southwick, has a disturbing history of insensitivity to blacks and other minority groups. The Senate should reject this nomination and make clear to the White House that it will reject all future nominees who do not meet the high standards of fairness that are essential for such important posts.

A non-negotiable quality for judicial nominees is that they must be committed to equal justice. Judge Southwick, whom President Bush has nominated for a seat on the New Orleans-based United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, repeatedly failed this test as a Mississippi state court judge.

When the voters put Democrats in the majority in Congress last fall, they were sending a message that the era of extremism in Washington should come to an end. Senate Democrats can show that they understood this message by rejecting Judge Southwick and insisting on a more moderate nominee, who will respect the rights of all.

On the cloture vote that would have blocked Southwick’s confirmation, Republicans ended up with 62 votes, two more than they needed. Among the presidential candidates in the chamber, Obama, Biden, and Clinton voted for the filibuster, Dodd did not vote, and McCain voted with the GOP.
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NAACP Southwick Current+events Current+affairs

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NAACP panel searches for new president

October 11, 2007: 01:44 PM EST

BALTIMORE (AP) - A search committee has been set up to find a replacement for former NAACP president Bruce Gordon, the civil rights organization said.

Gordon, a former Verizon (NYSE:VZC) (NYSE:VZ) executive, resigned abruptly in March after 19 months on the job, having clashed with board members over philosophy and leadership style.
As president and chief executive, Gordon wanted the organization to combine traditional civil rights advocacy with social programs. But Chairman Julian Bond and other leaders believed the organization, founded in 1909, should keep its traditional mission.

The 15-member search committee is made up of activists, scholars and business people, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said. It will work with a headhunting firm, HNCL Search of San Francisco.

In a statement Wednesday, Bond said he was confident the group will find a replacement whose priorities match that of the leadership.

'There has been no shortage of qualified applicants,' said Bond, adding that he has received 30 unsolicited resumes.

NAACP General Counsel Dennis C. Hayes has been interim president since Gordon's departure, just as he was after Kweisi Mfume resigned the presidency in 2004. The group has battled budget shortfalls in recent months and said in June it was reducing its national staff.


Copyright 2007 Associated Press.

NAACP

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"They Were Just Trying To Show Both Sides Of The Debate"

This is a repost from another site: JackandJillPolitics

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This is the moment at which white guilt and racism reach critical mass: when teachers ask their students to sympathize with the intellectual rationalizations for chattel slavery.

Over 100 sixth graders at Grover Cleveland Middle School in Caldwell spent several days last week taking part in an assignment where they used terms like "build a plantation" while completing their "Lap of Luxury" social studies project.

The project instructed students to create an advertisement defending the use of slave labor to run a newly built plantation in South Carolina. Students are told to come up with a '"catchy" name for the plantation and give three reasons why slave labor is the "best idea" and to add illustrations.

One student, who is not being identified because of his age, read to CBS what he wrote for the assignment: "Slave labor is the way to go because slaves aren't paid, so all money is profit."

Slavery is ok, because after all, it's all profit! Tomorrow's Republicans Today!

God forbid you teach them how to use a condom. I will be shocked if the eight black students who attend this school do not end up with some kind of post-traumatic stress disorder. I'm pretty sure there's a particular form that comes from being the only black kid at a school full of insane white people.

Parents are astonished by the assignment's nature.

"It's really offending," said Tyiesha Hameed, whose child is one of the only eight black students who attends the school. "There's so many other ways and tools to show our kids how to learn and teach them in reference to slavery."
One question parents and officials are asking is whether the 11- and 12-year-olds even understand the lesson which was given to them.

"The students have to use their creative spirits to create justification. That gets the mind pretty worked up, and it embeds some things in their process that will be there for forever," said James Harris, president of the New Jersey NAACP chapter.

This is the second year kids at the school have been asked to do this.

Casey Shorter, the school's principal, said he didn't find out about the project until after he spoke with a concerned parent. "Our intent was not to be insensitive. After reviewing the assignment and listening to feedback, from an administrative and teaching perspective, we determined it was insensitive and inappropriate. And we will eliminate it from the curriculum," he said.

Citing privacy issues, Shorter would not say what he's done with Dana Howarth and Beth Rutzler, the two language arts teachers who created the controversial "Lap of Luxury" project. He adds this is actually the second year that the teachers have given the assignment.

~~~~~~

Don't fire them. Just stop paying them.

Give them a few years. Then ask them, "Now what did we learn?"

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First person report from the Jena 6 Proceedings at the LaSalle Parish Courthouse

(Email from Clifford Boxley)
September 5, 2007

Peace and Blessings!

This is an unofficial update on the happenings relative to the Jena 6. On Tuesday September 4, 2007, there were two sessions of the La Salle Parish Court involving three of the Jena 6 and supporters continuing the struggle for justice.
At a 9:00, A. M. session defense lawyers for two of the Jena 6 appeared in court along with their clients for entering a plea. In both cases, the two Jena 6 young men, Theo Shaw and Carwin Jones, pleaded not guilty and their lawyers requested a jury trial for them, which the judge granted. There was no objection from the District Attorney’s office. The District Attorney, Reed Walters, was not present in this session of the court.
The courtroom was full of Jena 6 supporters along with a dozen or so local and national media, CNN and a reporter for a German news agency among them. By 10 A. M. this portion of the Jena 6 proceedings were concluded and supporters and media relaxed outside the courthouse waiting for a 1 P. M. court session involving Mychal Bell, the convicted Jena 6 youth who remains in jail awaiting sentencing on September 20, 2007.
Media persons with TV. cameras rolling, pursued parents of the Jena 6, members of the Jena 6 present, and their lawyers for any angle of a story they could get. The camera crews stood vigilantly along the walkway in front of the courthouse during the completely long day. In temperatures that climbed to 93 degrees by noon, CNN’s director even dispensed soft drinks and water to family members of some of the Jena 6.
While waiting for the one O’clock court appearance of Mychal Bell, there was a chance for my person to circulate among and converse with parents of the Jena 6 and others supporters.

Fund Raiser in New Orleans. Conseptla Bailey and Trina Wallace stated Parents of Jena 6 would travel to New Orleans at the week’s end for a fund raising event.

Jena 6 T-shirts banned at Jena High School. Trina Wallace stated some African American high school students had their own personal t-shirts designed showing support of the Jena 6. School officials banned the wearing of the t-shirts backing up the ban with a 3-day suspension from school for violators. In the courtroom, a student sat in front of me with “Jena 6” cut into his hair. Didn’t have the opportunity to ask what were the school officials’ reactions to his styled haircut?

A Twenty-Mile March on September 20, 2007 Day of Mychal Bell Sentencing. Jesse Muhammad from a Huston Texas based organization called Southern Christian Leadership inform me they are planning to have a 20-miles march on September 20th as part of the national call for two (2) thousands persons to come to Jena in a show of support for the Jena 6 and Mychal Bell in particular. One of the representatives said they are going teach the Jena “white power” structure a lesson regarding destruction of “our black youth.”
I hope to have updated information about the planned march, its beginning location and other details.

The Black Court Appointed Attorney for Mychal Bell. The original court appointed attorney for Mychal Bell, Blaine Williams attended the courtroom. One of the Jena 6 supporters informed my person she went up and talked to the Black court appointed attorney who did not call one single witness on Mychal Bell’s behalf or ask the District Attorney’s witness questions during the trail. She specifically asked him about his position and thinking that an “all white jury would be fair” to Mychal Bell as his reason. “Do you think I am cynical” was his response. I told her cynical was not the right description, he must have been out of his mind thinking the jury would have been fair in the highly charged white supremacy domination atmosphere permeating Jena’s white psyche.

A Bit of Exciting Information. Just before lunchtime, a research lawyer for the Jena 6 defense lawyers came over to show King Downing of the New York based ACLU a copy of a letter statement obtained from a white football coach at Jena High. The statement was obtained just hours before Mychal’s Bell’s case was schedule at 1 P. M. Listening in on the discussion it appeared that the coach had signed this statement saying that an unidentified juvenile member of the Jena 6 was the person who had allegedly punched Justin Barker, the white student beaten at Jena High allegedly by the Jena 6 last December.
Reaction from the persons gathered around was upbeat about the new information. However, it was stated that the unnamed juvenile who was now named, had been sent off to boot camp months ago. Supposedly, he had been given a choice of go to jail or go to boot camp. He was shipped out of town early and not around for any of the court proceeding involving the of aged teenage members of Jena 6.

High Drama just outside the courthouse door. While Jena 6 supporters and media folk continued lingering on the courthouse lawn, Jena 6 member Robert Bailey came outside and shouted to his mother Conseptla Bailey, “they got Theo!” The sheriff deputy got Theo!” Theo Shaw was one of the Jena 6 members whose arraignment for trail on January 28, 2008 took place at 9 A. M. Suddenly, there was a rush of Jena 6 supporters, lawyers and media folk all trying desperately to get inside as sheriff deputies had them pass through the single metal detector stall. Once inside us all learned that a sheriff deputy had grabbed Theo and dragged him into a back room of the courthouse. By then, Theo and the team of Jena 6 lawyer emerged from the backroom. Theo appeared mentally crushed and was crying his poor heart out.
Word had it that the deputy supposedly overheard Theo singing a “curse word.” Jena 6 Robert Bailey repeated the line of the song he said was a rap song Theo was singing to himself while waiting in the waiting area of courthouse. The so-called curse word in the four-word line was “shit.” Shit man you get man handled by a sheriff deputy for saying shit. Shit did happen to Theo Shaw at La Salle Parish Courthouse for the whole world to see right on CNN and other media.
Word is the particular deputy always has been an “aggressive” deputy. Well! Poetic justice came around in what goes around comes around. The whole world could see on CNN yet another example of the type of white supremacy domination oppression Blacks of Jena Louisiana and the Jena 6 are subjected.

Mychal Bell’s Defense Team Couldn’t Get No Justice Satisfaction All Afternoon. As the one P. M. court session convened, the only item on the docket was Mychal Bell. The dark and handsome young black man was brought in by La Salle Parish Sheriff Courthouse deputies and sat down among his legal defense team. Immediately behind sat his father Marcus Jones. The son really possessed the facial features of his also tall, dark and handsome father. Filling up the rest of the courthouse seats on the left side were Mychal’s mothers, other Jena 6 members, relatives, friends and supporters of the Jena 6 from afar and near. Filling in most of the seats on the right hand side of the courtroom were relatives and friends of Justin Barker, the white student beaten in the Jena High School fight.
Mychal’s team of lawyer waged four and half hours of motions at the judge in a seemly no win situation with the same judge who presided over Mychal’s trail when he was convicted by an all-white jury, pressured by an overly aggressive and excessive District Attorney, Reed Walters. Reed Walters sat opposite Mychal unmoved and hard-nosed challenging each motion from Mychal’s lawyers. It seemed at times in my mind the judge appeared to be practicing the law, instead of judging it as he time and time again fingered through the Louisiana legal reference book to find some text he used to refute the arguments of Mychal’s defense lawyers.
The lawyers tried to no satisfaction to get the judge to agree with them on several motions that included discrediting one of the trail jurors, District Attorney’s failure to produce an instrument for the charge of attempted murder, the District Attorney amendments of his bill from juvenile court to criminal court and motion for a new trail. One after the other the judge sat there displaying a jackal demeanor, while time and time again denying or overruling Mychal’s attorneys’ motions.
On one issue, they did get some satisfaction. The judge granted their request for a dismissal of conspiracy charge against Mychal as well agreed that he should have been tried in juvenile court instead of adult court.
King Downing of the ACLU thought this small victory might become a large victory if the judge’s dismissal of conspiracy charge applies to all the other Jena 6 members’ charges.
Overall, the judge teased the lawyers to make appeals to the Louisiana Appellate Courts who might just agree with their claims. Certainly, he could not be moved.
Therefore, let us heed the call for two thousand (2,000) protestors from all over America to flood into Jena on September 20, 2007 in support of justice, justice for the Jena 6 and justice of Mychal Bell. In my opinion, we must help the judge have a change of heart and do the right thing for Mychal Bell or Mychal is going to be sent off to prison.
Come to Jena on September 20, 2007 and help “Chant Down Babylon.”

Again, as we did back on July 31, 2007 we want to go to Jena in a car caravan departing from Natchez Mississippi. At 6:30, A. M. assembles at the Natchez Visitor Center’s parking lot at the juncture of U. S. Highway 84 West and Canal Street just before crossing the Mississippi River Bridge into Louisiana.

Please call me @ 601- 442-4719 or email: forksyaroads@aol.com to let me know you are planning on joining us. This way I can look out for your arrival.

Ser Seshs Ab Heter-Clifford M. Boxley reporting.

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Controversy grows over Houston Police Officer's "Ghetto Handbook"

Although this incident did not occur here in Kansas, I still wanted to share this with all of you because it demonstrates the need for our continued vigilance and focus....

AP - Six Houston, Tx, police officers have allegedly contributed to a crudely-made, pretty-obviously-racist "Ghetto Handbook" -- and no action was taken for three months after it was distributed. The officer who handed it out in May has been suspended with pay.

A crudely made "Ghetto Handbook" distributed by a Houston school district police officer sparked angry words Thursday from leaders in the district and the community — both because of its language and the fact that no action was taken for three months."This publication was completely reprehensible and HISD condemns it in the strongest possible terms," Superintendent Abelardo Saavedra said in a written statement.But some also questioned why it took so long for district officials to learn about the booklet and begin investigating.

The officer who first handed it out in May was suspended with pay this week, pending results of an investigation by the Houston Independent School District. Officials refused to identify him but said he was ordered to go to diversity training.

The eight-page handout, which includes a few grainy photographs, purports to offer definitions that will enable the reader to speak Ebonics "as if you just came out of the hood." Ebonics is a nonstandard variety of English spoken by some black Americans.The definitions include such terms as "foty: a 40-ounce bottle of beer"; "aks: to ask a question"; and "hoodrat: scummy girl."The booklet — subtitled "Wucha dun did now?" — names six HISD officers "and the entire day shift patrol" as contributors.

District spokesman Terry Abbott said, however, that a preliminary investigation has cleared those officers of involvement.The officers did not respond to the Houston Chronicle's e-mails seeking comment.The booklet originally was handed out at a May 23 roll call at Barnett Stadium, Abbott said. He said up to 15 dayshift officers and three supervisors attend the meetings.One of the supervisors immediately collected the booklets, Abbott said.But HISD leaders said they didn't learn about the incident until an oral complaint was made to the district's Equal Employment Opportunity Office on Aug. 13. It was not clear who filed the complaint, and district officials did not have an explanation for the delay in their learning about the incident.

Abbott said HISD Police Chief Charles Wiley "is not doing any interviews because of the fact that it's an ongoing investigation."Saavedra expressed regret about the incident and said he has "mounted a very aggressive investigation."School board President Manuel Rodriguez Jr. said, "I'm completely surprised and overwhelmed that it took us so long to find out about it. In today's age and time, there should be no room for that type."

As of last school year, nearly 30 percent of HISD's 202,000 students were black and almost 60 percent were Hispanic.Some community leaders expressed outrage."It does concern me," said Kashmere High alumna Carolyn Miller, president of the HISD Council of PTAs. "That's quite unfortunate that an officer felt a need to do that."Carol Mims Galloway, president of Houston's NAACP chapter and a candidate for the school board, said the officer who created the document should be severely reprimanded, if not fired."It was really a slap in the African-American community's face," she said, adding that she believes black students in the district already are being shortchanged academically."We're paying their salaries with our tax dollars," Galloway said of HISD police. "It does reflect on the district."She also questioned whether a supervisor really collected all of the booklets.

HISD trustee Larry Marshall called the document totally inappropriate, even if it were printed as a joke."These are very racially sensitive times," he said. "It was a huge mistake in judgment."
Houston activist Quanell X said he will ask today that Chief Wiley and anyone involved in the incident be reprimanded."What I'm angry about is that the supervisor did not file the complaint himself," he said. "The HISD police chief should have done more immediately, once this racist literature was brought to his attention."

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