The Noose: An American Nightmare

Hat Tip: Jennifer Dargan, CNN

The Noose: An American Nightmare

On the heels of recent noose hangings in Louisiana, Philadelphia, N.J., the Coast Guard Academy and other places, CNN's Kyra Phillips is developing a one-hour investigaion into the nooe as a symbol of hate. See Video HERE

CNN Special, The Noose: An American Nightmare, Investigates History of Hate
CNN’s Kyra Phillips Reports on Recent Acts of Intimidation in Wake of ‘Jena 6’ for Oct. 23 Program

Since July, there have been more than a dozen reported incidents of nooses being displayed around the nation apparently intended to intimidate black people. CNN investigates whether the upsurge in these acts are associated with the events surrounding “The Jena 6” in Louisiana or part of a growing, more widespread racial intolerance. CNN’s Kyra Phillips, who recently reported the network’s in-depth investigation, Judgment in Jena, will anchor a special one-hour report, CNN: Special Investigations Unit – The Noose: An American Nightmare, on Tuesday, Oct. 23, at 8 p.m. (ET). It will re-air on Saturday, Nov. 3 and Sunday, Nov. 4 at 8pm ET/PT.

Nooses have been found in small towns like Winchester, Ky. and Elgin, Ill., as well as in cities like Philadelphia and New York, where a noose was hung on the door of a Columbia University professor’s office. The Coast Guard Academy, in New London, Conn., is also investigating two separate noose incidents.
Through interviews with historian James Allan and Mark Potok of the Southern Poverty Law Center, Phillips will trace America’s history of lynchings – an atrocity that gives the noose its horrifying meaning. Phillips also examines law enforcement efforts led by the bias crimes coordinator with Nassau County (N.Y.) Police, which tracks downs those who commit hate crimes. She also talks to educators in Philadelphia about what young people are being taught about the nation’s history of racial hatred.

Are you Black, Black American, African-American, or just plain American?

NPR's News & Notes


NPR had a great discussion this Wednesday on it's Bloggers' Roundtable on: What's in a Name?

News & Notes, October 10, 2007 · Hispanic or Latino? What is the preferred term?

On this week's bloggers roundtable, Farai Chideya talked racial identity with bloggers Ambra Nykol,

Jim Collier, a AfroSpear member, and Liza Sabater.

AAPP: This made me think of something near and dear to me. My own preference of what people call me. Or better yet what I call myself. What is the preferred term for blacks in America? Black Americans? Black, African American, African-American, Afro-American , Free Slaves, Field Negros, House Negros, X? What do you call yourself to identify your nationality? Are you a black American? African American, Black, or just your name? Do you think it's important what people call you other than your name? What does your birth certificate say? Remember Roots? Remember Kunta Kinte? There are many blacks in America who may not be able to identify Africa on a map, but we sure like our African names. i don't know about our Latino brothers and sisters, but there is a strong movement in black America to connect to our African roots, no matter how disconnected it may be at this time. Many people prefer "African American"

Lavar Burton was "Right On" (that's old school) when he said, "My name is kunta kinte."

We as a people need to stop letting others decide what we call each other. Maybe it's time to stop calling each other pimps and bitches and call each-other brothas' and sisters.' It's time for us old school brothas' and sisters' to reach out and give that message to our young brotha's and sisters, son's and daughters, nieces and nephews, grand daughters and grandsons. It's time to mentor before its too late. But that is just one African American opinion, what's your opinion?

Black Policy.org on XM Radio

Blackpolicy.org is now on XM Radio! "Blackpolicy.org LIVE" hosted by Peter Groff and Charles Ellison every Thursday, 1:30pm - 2:00pm on POTUS '08 XM Channel 130.

WHAT'S ON SUNDAY NITE TALK THIS WEEK?
Groff, Ellison & Robinson in the ASCENT Chamber on SCHIP politics, 3rd Party candidates and Black voters and whether or not Al Gore will call it a comeback

ALSO: SUNDAY NITE TALK ranked as one of Capitol Hill Broadcasting Network's Top 10 "Most Watched Clips" at CHBN.com

GROFF/ELLISON POLITICAL REPORT (10.17.07):

CAN'T SLEEP ON RON PAUL
Congressman and GOP Presidential candidate Ron Paul (R-TX) is not the biggest friend of "civil rights" or anything remotely resembling it. In fact, he outright opposed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and there's a whole mess of stuff about him dissing the late and legendary Congresswoman Barbara Jordan (D-TX) and his views on everything from affirmative action to the explosion of Black men in jail. Is he racist?

PRAISE GOD & PASS THE NOMINATION
It is that comfort that has some pundits asking the question: can Obama or another Democrat close the God Gap? For the past 25 years plus Democrats have ceded that vote to the Republicans. But as elections have become increasingly close and margins increasingly thin, Democrats can no longer relinquish that vote.

ENUF OF ENOUGH CAMPAIGN
Blackpolicy.org is taking a break from the You Oughtta Be Shamed Awards because, a) these awards can and should be distributed on a rolling basis, and b) the fact that there are too many people who deserve said award gives a headache. However, we want to give props to those groups who have taken on the task of calling out degrading images and lyrics in media.

This isn't all of it. There's more! For the complete Groff/Ellison Political Report, go to Blackpolicy.org

About the Center for African American Policy at the University of Denver

THE Center for African American Policy (CAAP) at the University of Denver is a unique blend of academics, public policy, community and public service. The Center was formed to encourage public discourse and increase the flow of information on issues, policies and trends affecting African Americans. The goal of the Center is to work for and achieve a positive change in the present and future lives of African Americans through academics, the arena of public discourse, community and public service.

Are Blacks a "race" or a "people"?

By Francis Holland

Are Blacks a "race" or a "people"? A "race" is a group separated from the rest by their distinct genetic characteristics, while a "people" is a group distinguished from the rest by geography, history, sociology, culture and superficial visible characteristics.

If Blacks are a "race," then it remains forever possible that our unique genetic characteristics are, in some way, inferior to whites' genetic characteristics. However, if Blacks are a "people" that is in all essential ways identical to whites genetically, and distinguished only by geography, history, sociology, culture, ethnicity and superficial visible characteristics, then it is quite impossible to argue that whites are genetically superior to Blacks.

In fact, a "race," by definition, is significantly genetically different from other "races," just as the eugentics advocate, James D. Watson, has argued. Otherwise the use of the word "race" at all is superfluous and, in addition, simply wrong.

James D. Watson, a Nobel Prize winner for his part in the unravelling of DNA who now runs one of America's leading scientific research institutions, drew widespread condemnation for comments he made ahead of his arrival in Britain today for a speaking tour at venues including the Science Museum in London.

The 79-year-old geneticist reopened the explosive debate about race and science in a newspaper interview in which he said Western policies towards African countries were wrongly based on an assumption that black people were as clever as their white counterparts when "testing" suggested the contrary. He claimed genes responsible for creating differences in human intelligence could be found within a decade. Blacks Partly to Blame for Continued False Belief in "Racial" Inferiority

At this time, genetic science has not demonstrated any significant difference between whites and Blacks that equals or exceeds the differences between whites and other whites. Since science does not compel or even permit Blacks to conceive of ourselves as a separate "race" biologically, it is really a matter of our own self-definition whether we continue to insist that we are "racially" different. However, our self-definition will help to determine our place in American and other societies. More HERE

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AAPP: Great post by Francis Holland. He always provides thoughtful discussion.

Mobsters, White-Collar and Street Criminals Running America

U.S. Justice Department is now in large part an Immigration Enforcement Agency says The Washington Post.




As crime runs rampant in many urban communities across America we now learn that the Bush Justice Department has failed to prosecute various types of street crimes. As reported in The Washington Post the Bush Justice Department has far less focused on the mob bosses, drug kingpins and bank robbers who have dominated much of its history, even as new FBI studies show a substantial rise in murders and other violent crimes over the past two years.

The Justice Department under the Bush administration has retreated from prosecutions of mobsters, white-collar criminals, environmental crimes and traditional civil rights infractions, new department data show.

There is more, Check out some of the stats WaPo has uncovered:

From 2000 to 2006, for example, there were large drops in the number of defendants related to environmental offenses (down 12 percent), organized crime (38 percent), white-collar crime (10 percent), bank robbery (18 percent) and bankruptcy fraud (46 percent), according to Justice Department statistics provided this week to The Washington Post. Money-laundering prosecutions related to drugs were also down nearly 25 percent, while the number of drug cases overall was stagnant.

There were simultaneous jumps in prosecutions related to immigration (up 36 percent), weapons cases (87 percent), official corruption (15 percent), and, most dramatically, terrorism and national security cases (876 percent). Indeed, Justice Department funds devoted to counterterrorism programs in Washington have tripled since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

Department officials say the surge in resources for national security and terrorism probes, in particular, reflects the intense administration efforts to prevent another attack. But the number of terrorism-related defendants has been relatively small: Prosecutions peaked at 818 in 2003 and fell to 635 by 2006, and most of these were not for terrorist acts or plans. More HERE

No concern for Civil Rights - Justice Department is now an Immigration Enforcement Agency

The WaPo article points out, "While traditional civil rights cases fell, the number of defendants prosecuted for human-trafficking-related crimes rose from just two in 2000 to 65 six years later.

Perhaps most strikingly, the department's statistics show that Justice is now in large part an immigration enforcement agency: More than 19,000 defendants were charged with immigration violations in federal district courts in 2006, surpassing every other category except drug crimes. The data compiled by TRAC indicate that federal magistrates handled and disposed of an additional 18,000 immigration cases in 2006." More HERE

Are you surprised?

Read your history! Read Our History

The Slave Narratives

OK folks it's not February, NO black HISTORY MONTH HERE. Black history is made everyday. Check out what brother William Moore dealt with (click to read entire text).

Narrative Begins: William Moore was born a slave of the Waller family, in Selma, Alabama, about 1855. His brutal slave master moved to Mexia, Texas

Can a white African Join the African American Opinion - Social Networking Blog

Can a white African Join the African American Opinion - Social Networking Blog

Can a white African Join African American Opinion Social Networking Blog? For that matter can a white African blogger Join the Afrospear?

Douglas

You knew at some point this question would come up. You see, Douglas, who has registered at African American Opinion - Social Networking Blog identifies himself (we take his statement at face value) as a 56, Male, from Nsona Mpangu, Congo, The Democratic Republic Of, who now in the Chicago area, IL of the United States. He says he wants to Join to engage in dialogue about black people.

He says, "I was born in the Belgian Congo, as was my father." It is now called the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He says, A lot of things flow from this: growing up with black children as my playmates, multi-cultural understanding, and understanding of what it means to be in the racial minority and in the political minority. A lifelong interest in the relations of the races and a lifelong hatred for racism. That's why I want to be part of this group.

AAOpinion Publisher says:

Can a White African be part of the African American Opinion - Social Networking Blog? What do you say African American Opinion - Social Networking Blog members?

This is also a conversation for the Afrospear. Can white bloggers from Africa be part of the Afrospear?

Thoughts anyone?

Media Contradictions!

The Washington Post on it's front page reports: Al-Qaeda in Iraq Is Reported Crippled as the White House plans the next phase of war. Then they show this picture of U.S. soldiers standing guard as residents inspect damage after a car bomb explodes in Baghdad. (AP) While at the same time reporting how one of the Washington Post reporters Is Fatally Shot In Baghdad.

all of this while an Iraqi police officer surveys wreckage after a car bomb explodes at Eden Square, Baghdad. (AP)

Which reports are we to believe? The government or the pictures? I go with the images.

Nooses

Rash of Noose Incidents Reported
The Associated Press -
In the months since nooses dangling from a schoolyard tree raised racial tensions in Jena, La., the frightening symbol of segregation-era ...

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PUNTA GORDA, FL -- A homeowner in Punta Gorda doesn't understand why someone might take offense to a decoration he put up in his yard. more HERE

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New York Police Hunt for Suspects in 2 Noose Incidents in 1 Week
FOX News
NEW YORK — Police were grappling Friday with two separate incidents of someone stringing up nooses in public places — one at Columbia University and another ..

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Police probing noose incident review Columbia surveillance video
CNN International
NEW YORK (CNN) -- New York police detectives are reviewing surveillance video from Columbia University in hopes of identifying the person or persons who ....

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Nooses confiscated from a man who allegedly dragged them past the Jena Six protest on Sept. 20. (Photo: Alexandria Police Department via AP)
Nooses on the Loose After Jena 6 Case

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After Jena, Nooses Found at NC School

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Hateful Website, Hanging of Nooses Could Suggest Jena's Fight May ..

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Cops: Nooses Dangled In Front Of Marchers

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Confederate Flags:The rise of American Racism

Hat Tip: Let's Talks Honestly.com

In the affluent town of Lititz Pa.a group of white high school students walk around wearing the confederate flag on t shirts and park all together in a section of the parking lot they dubbed redneck row. The parents of minority students have complained to no avail but now after a incident in which 3 white students used racial slurs and threw paper at minority students action is being taken. Read the entire story by clicking the link below:
Redneck Row

More HERE

Iraq War the Eternal Nightmare

Iraq War Is `Nightmare' With No End, Sanchez Says

Hat Tip (Bloomberg) -- Retired Army Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who led U.S. forces in Iraq during the Abu Ghraib prisoner-abuse scandal, criticized American leaders for placing partisan gain at home above victory abroad and consigning America to a ``nightmare with no end in sight.''

The White House, Congress and especially the State Department bear blame for a strategy that has shipped forces overseas without the political and economic backing crucial for victory, Sanchez said in a speech yesterday in Arlington, Virginia.

``Who will demand accountability for the failure of our national political leaders involved in the management of this war?'' Sanchez asked, according to a transcript of the speech to military reporters and editors. ``In my profession, these types of leaders would immediately be relieved or court-martialed.''

Sanchez, who retired in 2006, condemned President George W. Bush's infusion of as many as 30,000 extra U.S. troops in Iraq this year as a ``desperate attempt'' to make up for years of shortcomings. The best the U.S. can manage under the current approach is to ``stave off defeat,'' said Sanchez, who was overall commander of U.S. forces.

``This enemy is more dangerous than any we have faced in the 20th century,'' said Sanchez, adding that a sudden withdrawal of troops from Iraq would unleash chaos in the Middle East.

The U.S. military effort has, from the 2003 invasion, been hasty and poorly managed, Sanchez said. More HERE

AAPP: Rather than comment on this story, I decided to provide a link to a post by David Podvin regarding those pathetic bastards in Washington and how they screwed America and their pathetic lies about the war on Iraq.

ETERNAL NIGHTMARE

By David Podvin

When Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez commanded the American troops in Iraq he passionately insisted that the United States was winning. Now that Sanchez has retired he describes our nation's occupation of Iraq as being “a nightmare with no end in sight.” This statement not only reverses Sanchez' pronouncements made while in uniform, it also contradicts the optimistic congressional testimony of current commander General David Petraeus... who apparently really did betray us. Sanchez says it was his duty to obey orders and not dissent publicly when he was on active duty, but that in retirement he feels obliged to speak the truth. By acknowledging candor is incompatible with military service the former officer has mocked the Senate resolution that condemns questioning the integrity of warriors. According to the prevailing wisdom, Sanchez must be regarded as a traitor.

He is not alone. Everyone who tells the truth about the Iraq War is deemed to be a traitor, just as everyone who lies about the Iraq War is exalted as a patriot. Modern America is reality inverted, a fabulist's Wonderland that transcends the wildest imagination of Lewis Carroll. Once, the United States destroyed Vietnamese villages in order to save them. Now, we are winning a glorious victory in Iraq by getting our asses kicked. Surrealism is a wonderful artistic device, but it is even more effective as a governing tool. The American people have become so disoriented by ambient fantasy that they are subsidizing the war as they oppose it. Yet when the fairy tales are cast aside, it becomes clear that America is losing in Iraq and will continue to lose in Iraq because there is nothing to win in Iraq.

Except for oil...

Click here for more.

Megan Williams - National March In West Virgina

NATIONAL MARCH AGAINST HATE CRIMES
When: Saturday November 3, 2007 12:00 noon

Location: Charleston, West Virginia. Beginning at First Baptist Church 423 Shrewsbury St. Charleston, W. VA and Marching to the West Virginia State Capitol in Charleston. Pre-March Rally 10am at First Baptist Church.

March Purpose: To bring national and statewide support to Charleston resident Megan Williams, the Williams Family and victims of other hate crimes nationwide. The Jena 6 case, the rise in the hanging of nooses and other current acts of injustices and intimidation against Blacks/African Americans will all be highlighted at this National March against Hate Crimes. Families and victims of hate crimes that are occurring throughout the nation will attend. Black Lawyers For Justice, the Williams Family and organizers are demanding that Federal Hate Crimes charges be brought in the instant case. They are also demanding Congressional hearings on hate crimes against Black residents as well a wide range of actions to combat the growing attacks on Blacks in America.



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