Racial Discrimination

Crazy, Tumultuous America 158 Years After The End Of The Civil War!

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Today, April 9, marks the end of the American Civil War in 1865, 158 years ago!

Today, more than a century and a half since then, America is, arguably, more divided than it has ever been, including the tumultuous 1960s!

Now, the South, once Democratic and hardline on the issue of racial discrimination, is Republican and hardline on the issue of racial discrimination!

Now, the nation that would not give women the right to vote or basic legal rights in the 19th century, is in the process of stripping away a woman’s right to control her own body, and decide whether she wishes to have children every time she engages in sexual intercourse, by choice or by force!

Now, we have a former President, Donald Trump, who has abused power massively, much more than even Richard Nixon a half century ago, and the party of Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt and Dwight D. Eisenhower bows to him in a cult like fashion, ready to put him back to power and destroy all of the progress of American democracy in the past century or more!

America is on the cusp of the possible destruction of the Constitution and the rule of law, and is on a tear to provoke violence and bloodshed in the determination that the Second Amendment, which has been horribly distorted, shall rule supreme, and that anyone, no matter how mentally disturbed he or she is, is entitled to weapons of war to use on American streets!

America, a nation built on the contributions of immigrants, is once again promoting nativism against people of different colors, languages, customs, and religions, with no sense of the dignity of all human beings!

America, a nation built on freedom of religion, and separation of church and state, is now seeing religious extremists attempting to promote a national theology of white supremacy Christianity, leading to antisemitism, anti Muslim, anti Hindu, and all other religious beliefs in the name of a supposed absolute deity!

America, a nation built on three equal and balanced government branches, is now witnessing the judicial branch gone amuck, in its determination to promote an absolute, narrow minded version of the Constitution–Originalism–which refers on the nation as it was in 1787 at the time of the Constitutional Convention, as if the 236 years since then are an aberration of the original principles of the Founding Fathers!

A nation which does not grow and change is a nation in decline, and in a world where there are massive threats that create danger, that can only undermine the nation which has been a model for the world of the possibilities of expansion of basic human rights!

This is a time for reflection, and for determination NOT to allow the evil forces which surround us to achieve their wicked goals!

Right Wing Republican And Trump Effort To Repeal 1965 Immigration Law And Return To Racist Immigration Laws Of 1920s

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It is clear that Right Wing Republicans (really most of the 2018 GOP) and President Donald Trump are working to repeal the 1965 Immigration Law passed under Lyndon B. Johnson, which allowed large migration from Latin America and Asia, instead of the earlier laws of the 1920s that favored European nations, ended Asian migration, and made it harder for the so called “New Immigration” groups from southern and eastern Europe (heavily Catholic and Jewish) to migrate at the time of Italian Fascism and German Nazism in the 1930s and early 1940s.

If it is left up to the Republican Party and Donald Trump, relatives of immigrants, beyond wife, husband, and minor children, will no longer be admitted to the country, and the number of immigrants admitted will be cut dramatically. Also, there would be an emphasis on European, rather than Latin American, Asian, and African immigration, a failed attempt to change the declining white percentage of the population, which will be less than 50 percent of the population in 2045.

This will have psychological and sociological effects on the immigrants, on the nation, and on the world image of the United States as the last and best hope for people escaping religious persecution, racial discrimination, and war and crime situations.

It will mean the death of many people who will have no recourse, much like the opponents of Fascism in Europe, and the mass sufferings of 13 million people in the Holocaust perpetrated by Nazi Germany from 1933-1945, including nearly six million Jews, but also seven million others of all nationalities and faiths.

America will suffer, as much of the immigrant labor may be deported, undermining the American economy in ways not totally understood now, but definitely having a deleterious effect on the future of the United States.

On Gun Regulation And DACA, Vast Majorities Are In Support, But Trump And GOP Ignore Public Opinion!

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One would think that America was a nation based on the consent of the governed, but apparently not so, in the age of Donald Trump and the Republican Party in control of our government, but only due to the faults of the Electoral College and of gerrymandering.

85-90 percent of the nation in public opinion polls support gun regulation, with the large number of massacres occurring in schools, malls, churches, and other public places, but the National Rifle Association owns the Republican Party, so when mass shootings take place, little is said other than “thoughts and prayers”, and nothing is done, even to have minimal oversight of people who purchase weapons.

The same percent want the “Dreamers” under DACA to be allowed to stay. and to have an eventual pathway to citizenship, but instead, they are being victimized by the racism and nativism of Donald Trump and the Republican Party. These young people have served in the military, attended college, held responsible employment, and have not engaged in criminal activities, but are being threatened with deportation by ICE agents, because their parents came here illegally.

America is now a nation in which these two evils of gun violence and discrimination against people who are not white Anglos has become a norm, with little done to deal with either issue.

This is causing great despair as America becomes a place that resists security for average Americans, and a sense of justice and fairness toward its minority groups.

Add to this the growing misogyny, and America has backtracked so much from the image of America as a democracy that promotes equality, justice, and fair play to all who reside in the country.

The American Presidency And Racism Nothing New, But Donald Trump’s Comment Way Beyond The Pale, And Should Force His Resignation!

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The American Presidency and racism is nothing new, but Donald Trump’s comment about Haiti and the continent of Africa being a “shit hole” is way beyond the pale, and should force his resignation as a moral and ethical disgrace!

We know that nine of the first 12 Presidents were slave owners.

We know that Andrew Jackson slaughtered native Americans, and forced thousands to Oklahoma, the disgraceful “Trail of Tears”, and condemned abolitionists and worked to prevent their literature from going through the US Mail.

We know that John Tyler and James K. Polk worked to expand slavery territory.

We know that Andrew Johnson was a white supremacist in a disgraceful way.

We know that Theodore Roosevelt was critical of the mass migration of Catholics and Jews (the “New Immigration”) to America, and did not care about racial discrimination in the South.

We know that Woodrow Wilson was a white supremacist, who segregated the nation’s capital by executive order and refused to give any honors for military service to African Americans, and looked at Japan and China as inferior nations.

We know that Franklin D. Roosevelt failed to take adequate action against the Holocaust that killed millions of Jews and others in World War II, and failed to move against racial discrimination, although his wife Eleanor did speak up and take whatever actions she could, as First Lady.

We know that Richard Nixon was antisemitic, and said biased statements against Jews and African Americans on the Watergate Tapes, which were recorded in the Oval Office.

We know there were other actions by Presidents which showed reluctance or refusal to take action against racism and antisemitism.

But Donald Trump, by his public utterance yesterday, and so many other statements and actions before he became President, and since he became President, is the most vile racist of them all, including his wish to deport tens of thousands of Haitians, Salvadorans, and Hondurans, and his lack of concern about the horrible damage done to Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands during the hurricane season.

For that, Donald Trump will go down as the bottom of the list of all of our Presidents, and we MUST work to get him out of office before he does much more damage beyond what he has done!

The Threat Of The Alt-Right Made Clear By Hillary Clinton In Nevada Speech: White Nationalists And Anti Semite Hate Groups And The Radical Fringe

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The Alt-Right is the new extremist Right Wing, which makes Fox News Channel, the right wing radio talk show hosts, and the conservative think tanks seem moderate.

These are groups and individuals, including Stephen Bannon of Breitbart News, now working with Donald Trump, who are white nationalists, mixed with anti Semites, nativists, misogynists, xenophobes, homophobes, and Islamophobes.

They include Confederate sympathizers, who hate the federal government, and want the end of all government regulation on any area of the economy, and would love to get rid of civil rights laws and civil liberties protections.

If they could gain power, they would love to wipe out the New Deal and Great Society reforms, that have made America the nation it is today.

They want the return of the “good old days” of states rights, racial discrimination, and women being “put in their place” in the bedroom and the kitchen, and not being out in the work force and promoting feminist causes.

And they believe in a “great Jewish conspiracy”, which connects them to Nazi mentality.

These are the groups that Hillary called a “Basket of Deplorables” yesterday, a perfectly appropriate term.

The Shame Of Alabama, The Republican Party And the Supreme Court On The 50th Anniversary Of The Selma To Montgomery March!

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This weekend marks the 50th anniversary of the Selma to Montgomery March of 1965.

On this significant anniversary, three things are clear.

Alabama has NOT shed its image of bigotry!

The Republican Party, many of whose members supported the Voting Rights Act of 1965, is not sending anyone to commemorate this event. Late news reports indicate that former President George W. Bush and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy are to show up, but few other Republicans, and none other than McCarthy in the leadership of the GOP.

And the Supreme Court has contributed to the withering away of the Voting Rights Act by its 2013 decision permitting new voting rights restrictions!

Not only is racial discrimination still very obvious in Alabama and much of the South, but now Alabama is the center of a so called states rights struggle over gay marriage, with the state Supreme Court, headed by George Wallace like Chief Justice Roy Moore ordering that gay marriage be stopped, after a federal judge ordered it go forward, and with the Supreme Court poised to consider the case, which will be decided by June.

So prejudice, discrimination, and the false argument of states rights still reigns in the original home of the Confederate government!

And for the GOP to bypass major representation at this premier civil rights anniversary is to the shame of the party of Lincoln, TR, and Ike!

And for the Supreme Court and African American Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, Associate Justice Samuel Alito, Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy, and Chief Justice John Roberts to promote a weakening of the Voting Rights Act two years ago, and see what it has wrought on voter suppression, is to the shame of the top Court of the land, which has not done its job to uphold the Constitution of the United States!

Jimmy Carter Writes On Discrimination Against Women By Organized Religion Worldwide And In America

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Former President jimmy Carter has written yet another book, and this one is on the widespread discrimination against women, world wide, as well as in the United States.

Carter makes a strong case about the unfairness of the treatment of women in the work place and in society, but his strongest indictment is against traditional organized religions, and not just one religion.

It is clear that Orthodox Jews, Right Wing Evangelical Christians, the Catholic Church, The Mormon Church, Muslims, and Hindus all have mistreatment and second class citizenship of women as part of their basic dogma, although there is nothing in the Old or New Testament that allows Orthodox Jews, Right Wing Evangelical Christians, Mormons, and Catholics to be able to justify their backward attitudes on the role of women in their faiths. Sadly, Muslims and Hindus are even worse in their disregard for the rights of women.

It is encouraging that Conservative and Reform Judaism, many mainline Protestant Churches, and progressive elements of the Catholic faith work to improve the rights and roles of women in their faith.

But it is disturbing to recognize that many Christian churches have, historically, backed slavery and racial segregation (particularly in the Southern states); and that many not only discriminate against women and their reproductive lives, but also, in too many cases, demonstrate anti gay hatred as well.

None of the prophets, particularly in the Western world, including Jesus and Moses, ever spoke out against women, or dealt with the issue of homosexuality or race, so these are the work of evil forces that have politicized religious teachings, in the name of power and wealth!

It is what has made many intelligent people, and young people, to turn against the trappings of organized religion!

A Day To Celebrate Promotion Of Human Rights: 150th Anniversary Of Emancipation Proclamation!

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Today marks the most momentous day in all of American history, regarding the promotion of human rights! It is the 150th anniversary of the issuance by President Abraham Lincoln of the Emancipation Proclamation!

Lincoln had issued the Preliminary Emancipation Proclamation on September 22, 1862, five days after the bloody Battle of Antietam, the bloodiest day in the Civil War. His entire cabinet was opposed to what he did, and had doubts about the final issuance of the Emancipation Proclamation 100 days later.

But Abraham Lincoln had the guts, the courage, the conviction that ending slavery was an essential part of the advancement of American democracy, and would help promote the victory of the Union forces over the Confederacy.

Lincoln knew that the Emancipation Proclamation was only a pledge to end slavery, and that the only true way to bring it about was military victory, and the passage two years later of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, an event excellently portrayed in the movie LINCOLN, with Daniel Day-Lewis portraying the events leading to the passage of that amendment by the House of Representatives.

Slavery’s end did not mean an easy time or adjustment for African Americans or the nation, as racial violence and discrimination would be a sad part of the future, but it was a necessary step forward on the march of human rights, including later passage of the 14th Amendment, the 15th Amendment, the 19th Amendment, the 26th Amendment, the various Civil Rights Acts (1866, 1875, 1957, 1960, 1964, 1965, 1968), and significant Supreme Court decisions on civil rights of women, minorities, labor, young people, and gays and lesbians.

The march of time has been toward the granting of greater human rights, but it all began with Lincoln’s courageous gamble, 150 years ago today, and for that, as so much else, all Americans should salute him today!

And it is inspiring to see massive lines at the National Archives in Washington, DC, as the Emancipation Proclamation is on view for a limited time to celebrate the event, but with the need to preserve a document which is in fragile condition after a century and a half of existence.

What Lincoln did in 1863 is connected to the whole long range story of American history, the expansion of human rights for all, and this is what draws foreigners to wish to come to America, the land of liberty and opportunity!

“Pitchfork Carrying, Torch Bearing Mobs” Running Republican Party In Florida: Former GOP State Chairman Jim Greer

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Florida is the fourth largest state in population, and will probably be number three by the end of this decade.

Florida has been populated by many Northerners and Midwesterners, many of them senior citizens, and many who have been in the military, and they come to Florida with a conservative bent.

Florida, a state infamous for racial segregation and discrimination, has now become the center of what Jim Greer, the former state Republican chairman under former Governor Charlie Crist, calls “pitchfork carrying, torch bearing mobs”, who have set out to deny African Americans, Hispanics and Latinos, poor, and young voters the right to vote, by claiming voter fraud, when there is no evidence of such abuses.

The leader of this is Florida Governor Rick Scott, who should be in prison for Medicare and Medicaid fraud when head of a hospital chain, which was assessed the largest fine ever imposed on a health care company and executive!

Scott and the extreme right wing of the GOP in Florida made it clear at meetings that Jim Greer attended, that they would claim voter fraud publicly, but had the intention of denying minorities the right to vote, effectively bringing back the days before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and in so doing, insuring a Republican victory in 2012, rather than another Barack Obama victory in the state, as in 2008!

For this author and blogger, the reality of this is an embarrassment and a disgrace, and it means that unless something is done immediately to stop this plot against potential voters, Florida will become the equivalent of Texas as a state with totally corrupt politics, in each case led by a “Rick”, Rick Perry in Texas, and Rick Scott in Florida!

Disturbing Social Trends: Anti Gay, Anti Labor, Anti Women, Anti Immigrant, Anti Black

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The news seems to be more disturbing by the day, as social trends are moving more and more in the direction of hate, prejudice, bias, and narrow mindedness.

Witness the following examples:

In New Jersey, an immature college student. Dharun Ravi, is convicted on all charges of a hate crime against a gay roommate who he streamed a liaison with another man on a webcam, causing that young man, Tyler Clementi, to commit suicide. What a stupid, and self destructive act by a young man who has now destroyed his life, after having done the same to the unfortunate Clementi, which will lead to Ravi’s prison sentence and likely deportation to India. So we have two promising young men at Rutgers University who have been tragically transformed by the prejudice and discrimination that is too widespread in this country, including by so called “religious good Christians”, which have led not just to this incident, but to the crisis of bullying that has caused many other suicides of gay youth, and this backed by right wing conservatives allied with the religious fanatics who do not promote the love of God, which they claim they believe, while practicing hypocrisy.

Then we have the example of a law firm in Deerfield Beach, Florida, which fired a whole group of workers who dressed in orange shirts for work, planning for “happy hour’ on Friday evening! Just for wearing an orange shirt, these people are summarily dismissed, and Florida state law, being that the Sunshine State is a “right to work” state, the employer can dismiss without any just cause or explanation, an outrage to all working people, who see conservatives and businessmen condemn labor unions which try to make work conditions better for all of us, even those not in labor unions. The average American has benefited from the labor movement over the past century, but yet labor unions are pilloried, and workers are abused, as with this example! And witness the anti labor actions in Wisconsin, Ohio, and elsewhere that have occurred in the past year!

The fight against women’s right to privacy and their dignity continues with restrictive legislation on contraception being pursued in yet more states, most recently in Arizona and Pennsylvania, on top of the outrageous vaginal probe law in Virginia and similar actions elsewhere.

Immigrants are facing widespread discrimination, whether legal or illegal, in Arizona, Alabama and elsewhere, and now we have the case of a basketball player, who is Puerto Rican and a citizen, facing chants of where his green card is, at a game at the University of Southern Mississippi. Immigrants are being abused, harassed, and victimized daily in the discriminatory, nativist mood that this nation has become obsessed with in recent years.

And African Americans, as always, face greater discrimination, so we have the case of a black teenager in Sanford, Florida, shot to death by a Neighborhood Patrol volunteer, who thought this young man was dangerous and suspicious, even though all he had on him was some Skittles and a soda, but leading to being shot in the chest and killed, and so far, no prosecution of what is obviously an unjustifiable action. It does not add to the image of Florida as to its handling of racial matters, reminding us of the days of segregation and lynching in the state’s past a half century and more ago!

The country is disintegrating from within socially, a very worrisome issue that must be addressed, with the one bright spot being media reporting and exposure, and the reality that liberals and progressives will not stay silent in the midst of these disturbing social trends!