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> > Dot's Information Service Hotline > "Unbossed and unbought news and information you can use" > Visit The DISH online at www.thedish.org > Vol. 9 No 38...Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race... 09-22-06 > ******************************************************** > > > Table of Contents > > > 1. Intuit's Vibe...Ballad of Birmingham ...By Dudley Randall (1914-2000) > 2. News You Use...Online Slave Trade Database > 3. Bit of History...Civil Rights Division of USDOJ > 4. Disgruntled > 5. Politics Y2K6...George's Basal Appeal > 6. Venue for an Artist...Why Republicans Rip the Voting Rights Act... > By Earl Ofari Hutchinson > 7.Disgruntled > 8. Mailbox > > > > ****************************************** > > > > > Intuit's Vibe > Ballad of Birmingham > By Dudley Randall (1914-2000) > > > > "Mother dear, may I go downtown > instead of out to play, > and march the streets of Birmingham > in a Freedom March today?" > > > > "No, baby, no, you may not go, > for the dogs are fierce and wild, > and clubs and hoses, guns and jails > ain't good for a little child." > > > > "But, mother, I won't be alone. > Other children will go with me, > and march the streets of Birmingham > to make our country free." > > > > "No, baby, no, you may not go, > for I fear those guns will fire. > But you may go to church instead > and sing in the children's choir." > > > > She has combed and brushed her nightdark hair, > and bathed rose petal sweet, > and drawn white gloves on her small brown hands, > and white shoes on her feet. > > > > The mother smiled to know her child > was in the sacred place, > but that smile was the last smile > to come upon her face. > > > > For when she heard the explosion, > her eyes grew wet and wild. > She raced through the streets of Birmingham > calling for her child. > > > > She clawed through bits of glass and brick, > then lifted out a shoe. > "O, here's the shoe my baby wore, > but, baby, where are you?" > > > > [On the Bombing of a Church in Birmingham, AL 1963] > > > > > > > > News You Use > Online Slave Trade Database > > > > Black genealogists are certain to find Emory University's Trans-Atlantic > Slave Trade project exciting. Emory University received $324,000 from the > National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) and $25,000 from Harvard > University's W.E.B. DuBois Institute for African and African American > Research to revise and expand "The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade," a CD-ROM > database of transatlantic slave ship voyages made between 1595 and 1866. > It has become an invaluable source of information for researchers, but it > is expensive. Emory's project will expand the 1999 CD and make it > available online free. > > > > David Eltis, the Robert W. Woodruff professor of history at Emory and > project director, claims the updated database will allow researchers to > trace the path of people from Africa to the Americas. Because the slave > trade was a business, Eltis said, "We have very good records. In fact, the > records are better than the records of Europeans. People from Africa were > property and people from Europe were not." The project is scheduled to be > completed in 2008, the 200th anniversary of the implementation of Article > 1 Section 9 of the US Constitution; it banned the importation of slaves > into the United States after 1808. > > > > Expect to hear more as we approach the project's completion date. For > more about the project, see > http://news.emory.edu/Releases/SlaveVoyagesData1150901442.html. To > subscribe to [EMAIL PROTECTED] for automatic updates of the latest news on the > Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, contact Elaine Justice at 404-727-0643 or > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > > > Bit of History > Civil Rights Division of USDOJ > > > > The United States Department of Justice (USDOJ), established in 1870, is > "charged with enforcing federal laws, providing legal counsel in federal > cases and construing the laws under which other federal executive > departments act. Headed by the US Attorney General, the chief US law > officer and cabinet member, the USDOJ is composed of six divisions > (Antitrust, Civil, Civil Rights, Criminal, Environment and Natural > Resources, and Tax). > > > > In August 1957, Congress, after debating for sixty-three days, enacted the > first civil rights law since Reconstruction to provide protection for > blacks in exercising their right as US citizens to vote. The Civil > Rights Act of 1957 empowered the federal government to remove some of the > obstacles that state and local officials placed in the path of black > registration and voting. It authorized the creation of a civil rights > office at the Department of Justice. On December 9, 1957, Attorney > General Herbert Brownell issued the order establishing the Civil Rights > Division. Headed by an Assistant Attorney General, the division enforces > federal statutes that prohibit "discrimination on the basis of race, sex, > disability, religion and national origin." > > > > "The Civil Rights Division is charged with enforcing the Civil Rights Acts > of 1957, 1960, 1964, and 1968; the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Equal > Credit Opportunity Act; the Americans with Disabilities Act; the National > Voter Registration Act; the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee > Voting Act; the Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, > and other laws and regulations that prohibit discrimination in credit, > education, employment, housing, public accommodations, voting and some > federally funded programs, such as those covered by Title VI of the Civil > Rights Act of 1964, Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, and > Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, as amended. The division > also assists federal agencies in identifying and removing discriminatory > provisions in their policies and programs. > > > > When the Division began in 1957, it had a handful of lawyers. In 2002, > the Division had more than 350 lawyers (Sources: www.usdoj.gov, > www.library.okstate.edu, and www.infoplease.com) > > > > > > > > > Politics Y2K6 > George's Basal Appeal > > > > Senator George Allen (R-VA) is seeking re-election. A former governor and > conservative, Allen recently appealed to his base. Reminiscent of George > W. Bush's campaign 2000 swing through Bob Jones University, where he > cemented his hold on the South by claiming the Confederate flag > represented his heritage, Allen's basal appeal has become known as the > "Macaca moment." Invariably, basal appeals are divisive, reinforcing > racial or ethnic prejudice. > > > > Allen was videotaped calling S. R. Sidarth, a dark-skinned Virginian of > Indian descent, a Macaca. A University of Virginia student, Sidarth is a > Jim Webb volunteer campaign worker; Webb is Allen's Democratic opponent. > "Macaca" is a racial slur often used by French-speaking people to mean > "monkey." Allen's mother is French-Italian-Spanish. His campaign > recently acknowledged that she is also Jewish and from Tunisia (where > French is spoken). > > > > Tim Russert on Meet the Press (9-17-06) questioned Allen about his > "Macaca" remark. Like many of us, Russert wanted to know where the word > came from. Allen hedged, restating his apology and assuring listeners > there was no intent to use a racial or ethnic slur. He ended with, "Oh, > it's just made up." Russert asked what his made up word meant. Allen > said, "Tim, if I thought that that was slurring anybody based on their > ethnicity or their race or their religion, I would never do it. It's not > who I am. It's not how I was raised." > > > > Russert recalled Allen's civil rights record of appealing to those who > promote racist ideas, like the Council of Conservative Citizens, Allen's > socially conservative ideological base. As a member of the Virginia House > of Delegates, Allen opposed a state holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther > King, Jr. He proposed instead a Confederate holiday. An Associated Press > report cited by Russert claimed, "Allen kept a Confederate flag in his > living room, a noose in his law office and a picture of Confederate troops > in his governor's office." Allen did not dispute the report. > > > > In response to his civil rights record, Allen admitted there is much for > him to learn. A work in progress, he sees the Confederate flag as a > symbol of heritage – Southern pride – and a reminder of his rebellious > anti-establishment youth. > > > > Allen is not the first politician to use divisive language and symbols to > appeal to his base. When Bush did it in 2000, he carried the South. For > the men and women seeking the nation's highest office, winning the South > is crucial for victory. Given that strong incentive, expect more basal > appeals and politics of division. > > > > > > > > > Venue for an Artist > Why Republicans Rip the Voting Rights Act > By Earl Ofari Hutchinson > > > > In 1980 Ronald Reagan told biographer Laurence Barrett that the 1965 > Voting Rights Act was "humiliating to the South." The carefully > handpicked, emotionally charged words from then GOP Republican > presidential candidate aimed to tap into the fury of white Southerners > over civil rights, and garner their votes. Two years later, then Assistant > Attorney General John Roberts (now Supreme Court justice) sent a tidal > wave of memos imploring Reagan to reject a 25-year extension of the act. > Reagan approved the extension anyway. > > > > Reagan did not want to buck Democrats and civil rights leaders who still > had clout in Congress and favorable public sentiment. The last thing > Reagan wanted was to be tagged a bigot and enemy of voting rights. > Candidate Reagan's soothing words to the South, and Robert's stern > opposition, were huge signals that many Republicans were at best > ambivalent, and at worst, openly hostile to the act. > > > > That hasn't changed. The real aim of Republicans is to appease > conservative white voters in the South, just as candidate Reagan did. > > > > Republicans took their cue from the old Southern Dixiecrats. For decades, > they screamed that the act was unlawful federal intrusion and violated > states rights. But racist Democrats weren't the biggest obstacle to the > act's initial passage. House Republicans were. Gerald Ford, who was then > Republican minority leader, proposed four provisions that would have > weakened the bill. One preposterous Republican gambit would have > eliminated a provision requiring the federal courts to approve all voting > rights laws passed by Southern states. > > > > With President Lyndon Johnson pounding away, and the stench of tear gas > still in the nation's nostrils from the 1965 attack by Alabama state > police on civil rights marchers at Selma, Republican House leaders > relented and scrapped the watered-down provisions. But that didn't end the > fight to protect voting rights. Republican Presidents Dwight Eisenhower, > Richard Nixon, Reagan and Bush Sr. carefully crafted and fine-tuned the > Republicans' Southern strategy. The goal was to win elections by doing > and saying as little as possible about civil rights, while openly and > subtly pandering to Southern white fears of black political domination. > > > > The loss of one or more states to the Democrats in the 2006 midterm > election and 2008 presidential election would spell political disaster for > the GOP. The key, as every Republican president since Nixon has known, is > to maintain near-solid backing from white Southern males. > > > > They have been the staunchest Republican loyalists. Bush grabbed more than > 60 percent of the white male vote nationally in 2004. In the South, he > got more than 70 percent of their vote. Without the South's unyielding > backing in 2000, Democratic Presidential contender Al Gore would have > easily won the White House, and the Florida vote debacle would have been a > meaningless sideshow. > > > > In 2004, Bush swept Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry in every > one of the states of the Old Confederacy and three out of four of the > border states. That insured another Bush White House. > > > > Bush, top Republicans and even the GOP obstructionists who temporarily > derailed the act's extension don't want to roll back the clock to the Jim > Crow days when the South concocted a vast array of literacy tests, poll > taxes, informal voting codes and whites-only primaries to boot blacks en > masse out of the voting booths. But more than a few Republicans do want to > send the message that they'll fight any threat to Republican rule in the > South, even if that means messing around with the Voting Rights Act. > > > > About Me: Earl Ofari Hutchinson is the author of "The Crisis in Black and > Black" (Middle Passage Press). The Hutchinson Report Blog is now online at > Earl Ofari Hutchinson.com. Read the complete article at > www.alternet.org/story/38202/. > > > > > > > > Disgruntled says: As my momma always said – it's the mind-set. She was > a maid in a big fancy house. After a few drinks, bigots relax around > their "people." That's when the slurs slip out, as in the case of George > Allen. Similarly, around those over whom they exert power, they act out > their prejudices. A case in point is the Louisiana white school bus > driver that ordered the black children to the back of the bus. Rosa > Parks, who recently died, is celebrated in this country as a civil rights > icon for having the courage to keep her seat on a public bus; her defiance > in the face of Jim Crow segregation and its domestic terrorism sparked the > Montgomery bus boycott. In 2006, Rosa would rollover in her grave to > learn some folks still believe blacks should be relegated to the back of > the bus. > > > > Disgruntled wants to know: Lorenzo Mathews died on his birthday. Born > on September 11, he died in a hail of bullets at twenty-one. For hours, > his body lay on a parking lot while DeKalb County policemen investigated > their use of deadly force. There was a rally to protest the police killing > and this senseless death. Unarmed and black, Lorenzo died under strange > circumstances police has yet to explain. Who was Lorenzo; why can't I > Google his name? > > > > Disgruntled feels: Switch! Here's a little experiment. Check out the > news reporting on Iran. Whenever you hear Iran, insert Iraq or > Afghanistan. It is deja vu! No one should be surprised that the US has a > date certain for war against Iran. You heard right -- Iran! Listen > closely to the talking heads; they said the same things about Iraq. When > they add "imminent threat" to the propaganda matrix, hold onto your hats! > It is time to switch those irresponsible boys and their dangerous toys > with responsible adults capable of sitting at the diplomatic table to > discuss issues of war and peace. > > > > > > > > Hood Notes > Civil Rights, Conservatives and Cold Cases > > > > George W. Bush signaled his support for the Southern approach to civil > rights in 2000 when he embraced the Confederate flag as his heritage. > Here in the South, and in the North, if they dared admit it, blacks are > still very much second class citizens. Sure the public "picnics" have > ended and group lynchings are no longer public celebrations, but blacks > still die under bizarre circumstances, often in police custody and in > violation of their civil rights. > > > > The Civil Rights Division of the Justice Department has dozens of cold > cases. In far too many instances, law enforcement officials are directly > involved, or they sit on evidence against the person (s) responsible. > Oftentimes, the mastermind is someone respected in the community that > gave the orders to harass, injure and kill, like Bush and the use of > torture at Abu Ghraib and in secret CIA prisons. > > > > All across the South, these crimes go unpunished, like the anthrax attacks > after 9-11. In "Can't just forget' civil rights era killings," Bob Kemper > (The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 09/13/06) cites dozens of cold cases, > which include the Georgia lynching of George and Mae Dorsey and Roger and > Dorothy Malcolm at Moore's Ford Bridge on July 25, 1946. Then, there is > the brutal slaying of 14 year-old Emmett Till in Money, Mississippi. Till > was beaten, shot and thrown into the Tallahatchie River for whistling at a > white woman. In Alabama, there is the cold case of Jimmy Lee Jackson, > who was fatally shot by police during a voter registration demonstration > in Marion, Alabama on Feb. 18, 1965. Lee was shot while trying to protect > his mother and grandfather from club-wielding state troopers. His death > helped spark the famed Selma-to-Montgomery voting rights march. > > > > > > > > Mailbox: E-Mails, Faxes and Telephone Calls > > > > Email www.msnbc.msn.com Candidate Jim Webb on Meet the Press (9-17-06) ... > "Now, with respect to affirmative action, my view on affirmative action > has been that—and, and remains that it's a 13th Amendment program. If you > go back to the Johnson administration's executive order on affirmative > action, it was based on the 13th Amendment and the Civil Rights Act of > 1866, designed to remove the badges of slavery. African-Americans are the > only ethnic group in this country that have suffered from deliberate > discrimination and, and exclusion by the government over generations. When > this program expanded to the present day diversity programs, where > essentially every ethnic group other than Caucasians are included, then > that becomes state-sponsored racism. And we should either move this > program back to its original intent, which I support, or we should open up > diversity programs to the point where poor white cultures—and they are > cultures, as in southwest Virginia—have some opportunity. > > > > Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] Civil rights hiring shifted in Bush > era...Conservative leanings stressed..By Charlie Savage...Globe > ...WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration is quietly remaking the Justice > Department's Civil Rights Division, filling the permanent ranks with > lawyers who have strong conservative credentials but little experience in > civil rights, according to job application materials obtained by the > Globe. The documents show that only 42 percent of the lawyers hired since > 2003, after the administration changed the rules to give political > appointees more influence in the hiring process, have civil rights > experience. In the two years before the change, 77 percent of those who > were hired had civil rights backgrounds. > > > > Email [EMAIL PROTECTED] If Attorney General Alberto Gonzales advised > Bush on torture, is he liable for war crimes prosecution under the Geneva > Conventions or War Crimes Act? Just wonder, since Bush is not a lawyer. > > > > ********************************************* > For comments or to unsubscribe, email [EMAIL PROTECTED] > ********************************************* > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/scifinoir2/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
