Why The 'Race Card' Is Played

PlasteredPeggy tries to convince cop not to arrest her because she's a "very clean, thoroughbred, white girl."  A Bluffton, S.C., woman thought her whiteness would come in a clutch when she was stopped by police after plowing through a stop sign more than 30 miles an hour over the speed limit (allegedly while drunk to top it off) early Saturday morning. The woman, identified by  the New York Post  as Lauren Elizabeth Cutshaw apparently told cops that she shouldn’t be arrested because she is a “very clean, thoroughbred, white girl,” according to a report by the Bluffton Police Department.

Are Charter Schools Good or Bad for Black Students? According to  the Association for the Study of African American Life and History,  the  group  that founded BHM —t his crisis “has grown significantly in urban neighborhoods where public schools lack resources, endure overcrowding, exhibit a racial achievement gap, and confront policies that fail to deliver substantive opportunities.” Delivering those opportunities is one of America’s unfinished civil rights imperatives. But it will require resolving new divisions within the racial justice movement over one of the great hopes for extending educational opportunity: Charter schools. President Barack Obama championed these publicly funded but independently run schools, whose promise is that freedom from traditional bureaucratic regulation will allow educators to innovate, thus improving student outcomes. Unlike  vouchers —essentially publicly funded passes for select students to attend private school, w...

Chicago shootings spark calls for Rahm Emanuel to resign Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel and his administration are once again under fire for the city’s ongoing problem with gun violence, as this past weekend left at least 11 people dead and 70 others wounded. "Our souls are burdened," Emanuel said in response. "It is unacceptable to happen in any neighborhood of Chicago. We are a better city." Though the Windy City ended last year with 650 homicides — down from 771 the year before — the total still exceeded the combined number of killings in New York and Los Angeles. The staggering numbers have resulted in calls for change, as well as from those who would prefer different leadership altogether. As the city grapples with how to deal with ongoing violence, here’s who has called for the mayor to resign so far.

N.F.L. National Anthem Protests Resume With Players Kneeling and Raising Fists The N.F.L.’s 2018 began in earnest on Thursday with the first full slate of preseason games, and the question that has dogged the league all summer — will players continue social justice protests during the playing of the national anthem — was answered loud and clear. Malcolm Jenkins of the Philadelphia Eagles, one of the most outspoken players in recent years, was joined by his teammate, De’Vante Bausby, in raising a fist while the anthem was played. As had been customary in the past, Chris Long, a veteran defensive end, stood next to Jenkins with a hand on the defensive back’s shoulder. In the only reported instance of players kneeling, Kenny Stills and Albert Wilson of the Miami Dolphins took a knee during the anthem before their team’s game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, while their teammate, Robert Quinn, raised his fist.

Video released of Nashville officer fatally shooting Black man in the back A new video has been released showing a Nashville police officer fatally  shooting  a man in the back who was running away from him. The family is demanding answers about the use of deadly force that killed the 25-year-old,  the Tennessean   reports. The Nashville district attorney’s office  on Wednesday  released the videos of  Daniel Hambrick’s  last moments. Community members up-in-arms over what they believe to be an excessive use of force as he runs away. Officer  Andrew Delke , 25 ,   has been identified as the officer in the video who shot Hambrick in the back. Because Hambrick was Black and Delke is white, some believe racial bias was a factor in the shooting.

WATCH: Arkansas cop tells group of black residents that they ‘don’t belong in my city’ A police officer in Arkansas has been fired from his job after being shown on camera telling a group of black men that they “don’t belong in my city.” Local news station THV 11 reports  that Mike Moore, a police officer for the town of England, Arkansas, told Demarcus Branch and his friends that they weren’t welcome in his city. I n the video, Moore approaches the men and tells them, “You don’t belong in my city.” Branch is taken aback by the officer’s statement and says, “We’re from here!” “But you understand, I know who my people are, right?” Moore asks. “Who belongs here and who doesn’t? We’ve got gang wars going on, we got all kinds of stuff.” Moore told Branch that he didn’t belong in the town despite the fact that he grew up there — and despite the fact that his uncle actually works at the England Police Department. Branch brought the video to the department to ...

History shared but unreconciled in city’s Confederate statue TUSKEGEE, Ala. (AP) — In 1906, when aging, white Confederate veterans of the Civil War and black ex-slaves still lived on the old plantations of the Deep South, two very different celebrations were afoot in this city known even then as a beacon of black empowerment. Tuskegee Institute, founded to educate Southern blacks whose families had lived in bondage for generations, was saluting its 25th anniversary. Meanwhile, area whites were preparing to dedicate a monument to rebel soldiers in a downtown park set aside exclusively for white people. Flash forward to today and that same Confederate monument still stands in the same park, both of them owned by a Confederate heritage group. They sit in the heart of a poor, black-controlled town of 9,800 people that’s less than 3 percent white. Students from what’s now Tuskegee University once tried and failed to tear down the old gray statue, which has since become a ...

@RealBillRussell takes a knee✊ The first NFL games kick off today, I want to show my continued support for the players & their decision to stand against  # socialinjustice . I thought about taking a new photo but was afraid I wouldn’t be able to get up this time @NFL @BostonGlobe @MSNBC @CNN  # ThursdayThoughts

1st. anniversary of 'The Charlottesville Protests' After the aborted rally, at around 1:45 p.m., a man drove his car into a crowd of counter-protesters, hitting several and slamming into a stopped sedan, which hit a stopped minivan that was in front of it. The impact of the crash pushed the sedan and the minivan further into the crowd. The man then reversed the car through the crowd and fled the scene. One person was killed (Heather Heyer) and 19 others were injured in what police have called a deliberate attack. In the wake of the Charleston church shooting in 2015, efforts were made across the country to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces and rename streets honoring notable figures from the Confederacy. While often successful, these efforts faced a backlash from people concerned about protecting their Confederate heritage. The August 11–12 rally was organized to protest the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue honoring the Confederate general in Emancipati...

Virginia governor declares state of emergency for anniversary of Charlottesville protests Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and the city of Charlottesville have declared a state of emergency ahead of the anniversary of the violent Unite the Right rally. The first iteration of the group's rally took place in the sleepy Virginia town last August. On the anniversary on Sunday, large protests and parades are planned in Washington, D.C., as well as smaller memorial events in Charlottesville. On Aug. 12, 2017, Heather Heyer, 32, was killed when she was struck by a car that had plowed into a crowd of counter-protesters. Two Virginia State troopers were also killed that weekend when their helicopter crashed into woods nearby.

Retired police chief: Daniel Hambrick's killing is part of 'the long tradition of police officers shooting first' : On Wednesday, the Nashville, Tennessee District Attorney released a video showing the fatal shooting of 25-year-old Daniel Hambrick by Nashville police officer Andrew Delke. Hambrick was black, and Delke is white. The video shows Delke firing his gun as Hambrick runs away. One of the bullets hits him in the back and he collapses on a lawn. He was later pronounced dead. Prior to the release of the video, the department claimed that Hambrick had …

Racist couple attacks Black man with car, threatening to run him over for parking on their street Two St. Cloud, Minnesota residents are suspected of assaulting a Black man just for parking on their street. According to the  St. Cloud Times ,  Monday, 58-year-old  Aaron Charles Stevens  and his girlfriend,  Myrna Angelica Alanis , came running out of their home after they noticed a Black man had parked his car in their neighborhood. According to authorities, Stevens immediately attacked the Black man by throwing a bottle at his head, which ended up causing a laceration on his face. Stevens then began to yell racial slurs at the man while demanding he get off his property. Stevens then “charged at the man with a large tie strap with metal hooks,” while urging his 41-year-old girlfriend to get in his truck and run the man over. Alanis followed orders, got in the truck and revved up its engine while Stevens held the injured man on the gro...

John Hewson: We must continue to call out racism everywhere It has become a most disturbing and unfortunate feature of recent politics, particularly here and in the US and Europe, that many politicians – seeking short-term personal, political advantage – have played the race card. Sometimes it is little better than blatant racism, on other occasions they hide it behind a confected concern for some broader issue, such as immigration, or the activities of “Sudanese Gangs” or the “excesses” of multiculturalism. In particular, there has been a strong anti-immigration movement evident in most European elections in recent years, gaining significant momentum with the “flood” of refugees from Syria, Iraq, and North Africa. The Brexit vote in the UK was driven by concerns about the lack of an effective immigration policy, and the exaggerated threat of some 5 million refugees to hit their shores in the next few years. Trump has made a feast of anti-immigrat...

Islam is not a race but singling out a community is racism – whether the right-wing say so or not    ‘I can’t be racist, Islam is not a race,’ is a regular argument used by those who, whenever accused of making remarks that stereotype and demonise Muslims, feel smug about falling back on. Playing semantics and blurring definitions is a sure-fire way of undermining the fight against bigotry, racism and hatred. It’s an argument that I have heard made often, the most recent being by Conservative MP Andrew Bridgen, who, when appearing on Sky News to discuss Boris Johnson’s comments about the burka and people accusing him of playing into racial stereotypes, went on to say, ‘Well Islam isn’t a race, it’s a religion.’ This particular line of argument has been used by many, including Richard Dawkins, whenever there’s a debate about anti-Muslim prejudice. It’s also used by those on the far-right who explicitly use racialised tropes when promoting Islamophobia and hatred towards ...

‘BLACKS FOR TRUMP’? ALMOST 8 IN 10 AFRICAN-AMERICANS SAY HE’S MADE RACE RELATIONS WORSE trong majorities of African-Americans and Hispanics believe race relations around the country have deteriorated under President Donald Trump, and a majority of the country feels the same way, according to a poll released Wednesday. Seventy-nine percent, or almost eight in 10, African-American voters and 60 percent of Hispanic voters said relations have worsened since Trump assumed office, the  Politico/Morning Consult poll  indicated. In contrast, a slim majority of 51 percent of white voters said relations have declined around the country as the anniversary of the racially charged Charlottesville, Virginia, protests approached this week. Overall, 55 percent of voters said race relations have worsened under Trump, with only 16 percent stating relations have improved and 18 percent answering they have remained the same.

Black Lives Matter activists crash wedding of cop accused of fatally shooting Stephon Clark Black Lives Matter activists filmed themselves crashing the wedding of one of the Sacramento police officers accused of fatally shooting Stephon Clark in March and then confronting him about how he sleeps at night. The activists filmed themselves walking into a room, where a group of men were sitting at a table eating. One member of the group was heard asking the black man, presumed to be the officer, at the end of the table when he started planning his wedding. The officer was reportedly with his groomsmen at the time of the  video . Black Lives Matter has named the officer involved in Clark’s shooting but the Sacramento Police Department has not. “I was just wondering if you started planning your wedding before you killed Stephon Clark or after and how you’ve been sleeping since March 18. And I know this is supposed to be the happiest day of your life but he will not have that...

Boys Confess To Hanging Black Doll From A Noose At Philadelphia Playground C onfessions by two boys solved the mystery behind a Black doll found Thursday hanging from a noose at a Philadelphia playground, which was once an African-American burial site. SEE ALSO:   Lynched Black Doll Not a Hate Crime, Just ‘Foolish Prank,’ School Superintendent Says Two preteens, one Black and the other White, claimed on Thursday night that it was not a hate crime but a prank intended to scare people, the  Associated Press  reported. Discovery of the doll prompted a police investigation and drew quick condemnation from Philadelphia Mayor  Jim Kenney  and other city officials, as well as Black community leaders. “For our people, there was a time when they weren’t baby dolls, but they were real people and real bodies. That didn’t stop us and this won’t either,” said the Rev.  Mark Kelly Tyler , Mother Bethel AME’s senior pastor, in a Facebook live video before th...

African American Role Models – Real Ones. ( ThyBlackMan.com ) Recently Lebron James opened a phenomenal school for youth, including a food pantry, academic studies where adults can get their GEDs., free tuition, meals, uniforms and transportation for students as well as tremendous help with college. I applaud Lebron for that , no doubt about it. But I have to ask a question that reveals a deep problem in the African American community needing immediate attention. Where are the real African American role models? You may argue that a role model is anyone who steps up to make a difference and provide a positive example through his or her actions. And you would be mostly correct. So in that sense, there are many unsung heroes of the African American community who change lives and communities every day – with or without money. And that is a great thing.

In less than 7 hours, 40 shot, 4 fatally as violence rips Chicago Starting about midnight Saturday, at least 40 people were shot citywide, four fatally, in a period of less than seven hours as gunmen targeted groups at a block party, after a funeral, on a front porch and in other gatherings, according to authorities. The bloody toll comes as tens of thousands of concertgoers converged downtown for  Lollapalooza , which drew heightened security and a large police presence following the country’s  deadliest mass shooting  at a Las Vegas music festival last year. In contrast to the joyous scene downtown, the brunt of the violence early Sunday was felt on the West Side, where 25 people were shot in separate attacks between midnight and 6:50 a.m., according to police figures. The largest shooting, which injured eight people, happened in the South Side’s Gresham neighborhood as a group, including a 14-year-old girl, was standing in a courtyard just before 12:40 a.m. ...

Randy Moss pays tribute to those killed via police violence with tie at Hall of Fame Randy Moss  focused on faith, family and football  during his induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame on Saturday. After the ceremony he had a different message of social justice, explaining the tie he wore bearing the names of several people who were killed via police violence as well as Sandra Bland, a woman who was found hanged in a Texas jail cell in 2015.