RedEye's "Back to the future" Rundown

The Freedom Riders Then and Now

As a survivor of the domestic terrorism of the Civil Rights Movement, EYE think America is going back to the future.  EYE don't know if the election of the first president who is black 
bought out the worst in some (not to be confused with all) white people, but if this is the result EYE fear Barack Hussein Obama will be the first and last president who is black of these United States of America.

 Today, a large part of the population remains willfully racist, [TEA PARTY] and by extension, a great number of people have also become unconsciously so, buying implicitly into stereotypes about Black Americans as dependent and lazy [MITT ROMNEY]; and thus determined to stop social programs [CRUZ] and limit the federal government’s influence [PAUL] — even if it is not to their own benefit. In a sense, much of the middle class population has been HOODWINKED into voting for the interests of the top one percent GOP because of their own unconscious prejudices.

FBI warning of of white supremacist infiltrating law enforcement nearly forgotten.   EYE wonder why?  Snark

In near prophetic fashion, after the FBI’s warning, white supremacy extremism in the U.S. increased, exponentially. From 2008 to 2014, the number of white supremacist groups, reportedly, grew from 149 to nearly a thousand, with no apparent abatement in their infiltration of law enforcement.

From the files of SWB (Shopping While Black) in Sweet Home Alabama. 

Real Housewives of Atlanta star Claudia Jordan recently had a run-in with a mall security guard in Opelika, Ala., and is claiming she was racially profiled. On Friday, Jordan was in Opelika to see Ginuwine perform, but both Jordan and Ginuwine were thrown out of the Auburn Mall because she wouldn’t remove her sunglasses, she says.

Meanwhile, there is some Strange Fruit in Georgia.

I don't know about the rest of you, but when I hear stories like the recent one about Roosevelt Champion, I get a little nervous.   
"A black man who'd recently been questioned in connection with the death of a white woman was found dead hanging from a tree Monday morning in rural Greensboro, Georgia, police said. Local and state investigators said there was nothing to immediately suggest foul play.

Adventures in double standards #Baltimore edition,  Because black folks.....

Riots led by largely white participants over largely innocuous things (your favorite sports team lost, your favorite sports team won, your favorite event just ended, you're drunk, others are drunk so let's tear sh*t up) are never treated with the racial disdain that the highly uncommon riots that occur in black communities receive.
There's no condemnation of white Americans as a whole, nor are there any calls for the Caucasian community to restrain itself and seek non-violent means of expressing itself. They're not denigrated as "thugs," accused of being "out of control" or used as fodder for unreconstructed fantasies of putting them back in their rightful place. Even the language becomes different - these are "disturbances," not "riots."  They're not "thugs," but "young party goers" and "revelers" who just happen to be "over-exuberant."

So much for HOPE for CHANGE we can believe in.

RedEye

"If ever a photo should exist to explain how we feel every day, from the moment we arise til we fall asleep. "

 

Sometimes a photo from Baltimore says more than a thousand words.  Fist Dap to The Real Segun Idowu @RevrendDoctor

There is nothing wrong with families framing their struggle solely in terms of their child who was killed; similarly, there is nothing wrong with the community framing their uprising within the context of police murder after police murder with nothing but an increasingly armed and hostile police force killing more young black men on the horizon...

But let's talk about random acts of vandalism, not to be confused with rioting, so we won't have to talk about this right here.

Erica Garner, 24, the daughter of Eric Garner, who died in New York police custody, attended Gray’s funeral. She said she came after seeing video of Gray’s arrest, which she said reminded her of her father’s shouts that he could not breathe when he was being arrested on a city street.
“It’s like there is no accountability, no justice,” she said. “It’s like we’re back in the ’50s, back in the Martin Luther King days. When is our day to be free going to come?”
Gray’s death has prompted near-daily demonstrations. He was arrested one week before he died when officers chased him through a West Baltimore neighborhood and dragged him into a police van.
Police said Gray was arrested after he made eye contact with officers and ran away. Officers held him down, handcuffed him and loaded him into the van. While inside, he became irate and leg cuffs were put on him, police have said.
Gray asked for medical help several times, beginning before he was placed in the van. After a 30-minute ride that included three stops, paramedics were called.

Authorities have not explained how or when Gray’s spine was injured.

#Baltimore
#FreddieGrey
#BlackLivesMatter
#LorettaLynch 

Another day, another hashtag...

Rest in Power and in Love #FreddieGrey

#FergusonOctober "One Perfect Tweet Calls Out the Hypocrisy of How the Media Talks About Black Violence"

Your media guide to the differences between #Ferguson and #pumpkinfest pic.twitter.com/XfRjlhgei0
— Matt Weinecke (@MattTW) October 19, 2014

Some will brush off what happened in Keene as kids being kids or as representative of a small minority of the white population — fringe behavior. But the black community doesn't have that luxury. When violence happens in the black community, it's seen as symbolic and part of a larger pattern; a disruptive few somehow represent the black community. Black people are lumped into one homogenous category, one that leaves no room for the nuance and complexity of how communities grow and thrive. In the case of New Hampshire, the media wrote off the incident as annual autumnal bacchanalia.

Ways the Media and Police Justify the Killing of Unarmed Black People

There is a prevailing notion in this country that when an unarmed black person is shot by the police, there must have been a valid reason. In the spirit of fairness, it doesn't even have to be at the hands of the police. Black victims are routinely put on trial in the media with an unspoken but clear suggestion that they deserved what they got.

Read on for a rundown of some of the reasons unarmed black people deserved to die.

There are pictures of him making "gang signs"

There is more than a whiff of hypocrisy.

Paula Deen, "The Help", and the George Zimmerman jury

They say life imitates art and the first thing I thought about when I heard the Zimmerman jury is 100% women and 0% African American  was the characterization of white women in  The Help.

The story revolves around three different characters: Aibileen Clark, Minny Jackson and Skeeter Phelan as they document their lives on the different side of the racial barrier. Aibileen and Minny are black maids working for rich white families whilst Skeeter is the daughter of a rich family that employs "the help" which refers to the black maids. Minny is a black maid with a quick tongue and an inability to act like maids were expected to in the novel's depicted setting. This big mouth often gets her into trouble, and usually fired from her job. Racial issues of overcoming long-standing barriers in customs and laws are experienced by all of the characters. The lives and morals of Southern socialites are also explored.

In light of the recent Paula Deen revelations and our rich southern heritage it's the racial issues of overcoming long-standing barriers in customs and laws that concern me the most.

According to the Orlando Sentinel, juror E-6 -- a young, married white woman who warned her two adolescent children not to go out at night because of Martin's shooting -- reported that her husband owns guns. Juror B-37, a middle-aged white woman with two adult children who described the protests in Sanford as "rioting," reported that both she and her husband have concealed carry weapons permits, though she has let hers lapse, reports the paper.
Baez also cited the jurors' race -- five are white, and one is Hispanic, the Orlando Sentinel reports -- as a boost for the defense. The racial and ethnic makeup of potential jurors is relevant because prosecutors have alleged that Zimmerman profiled Martin in following the teen as Martin was walking back from a convenience store to the home of his father's fiancee.

I have to hand it to Zimmerman's attorney,  Mark O'Mara is one slick cookie.

After Thursday's hearing, Zimmerman's attorney Mark O'Mara was asked what he would say to people concerned there were no black jurors.
"People can look at it and have this response — that there's no blacks on the jury, or no this or no that, or no men on the jury," he said. "Tell me that we did something wrong in the process and I'll agree with you."

I guess it depends on what your definition of doing something wrong IS. 

This case should not be about race, but the attorneys’ failure to pick a more diverse group of six people is certain to reignite the issue, especially if the 100 percent all-female/non-African-American jury finds Mr. Zimmerman not guilty.

"The sum of our fears" Update

University of Mississippi students riot over Obama Victory.  Presidents re election greeted with anger at deep south campus. Raw video

After Obama victory Donald Trump rants on Twitter  "This election is a total sham, we are not a democracy."

"There is a mean spirit on the lose, not only in Alabama, but in America and that's what makes this election so important." Alabama State Senator Hank Sanders (D. Selma)

"Mitt's a liar but he's still better than Obama"  Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich (r. Georgia)

Now that the election is over, I am going to admit I was afraid, strike that, I was very afraid,  republicans were going to gain control all three branches of our government, including the Supreme Court.  Although the  media infused, GOP still controls the House of Representatives,Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, and President Obama, can keep them in check.  Hopefully they won't make it their life mission to destroy our country, and will allow President Obama the opportunity to govern he was denied in his first term.

The more things change, the more they stay the same.

"This race has been particularly difficult, because the ugly racism that still haunts this country and compels the voting choices of a majority of white people was particularly aggressive this time around. I’d say it was worse in 2008, because last time, I think conservatives simply found it implausible that Obama could win, polls aside. Now that they have proof that Americans will vote for a black President, their rage has spun out of control. After four years of conservatives trafficking in race-baiting conspiracy theories, the majority of white people are still on board with their agenda, which is beyond depressing."

I have to give republicans credit, they almost pulled it off.  All that money, all that Benghazi, "You didn't build that," the birtherism, the racial dog whistles - all for naught. 

Will we the people ever form a more perfect union?

I HOPE so, but I FEAR not.

CNN exit polls showed women voting in greater numbers than men and heavily favoring Obama - in contrast with men, who preferred Romney.

 

RedEye tiptoeing away from the computer to go pray for our country and the world.

Denying Racism exists won't make it go away

H/T jobsanger

Again,  there are some who thrive by denying racism is alive and well in America, especially in the criminal justice system. There are some who use selective outrage as a weapon of mass distraction from the real issue...a miscarriage of justice.

If it makes some of you feel better to call those of us calling for justice in the case of Trayvon Martin race hustlers, race pimps  and race baiters,  have at it.  We aren't the ones trying to incite a riot either. 

Today's Must Reads

For black Sanford residents, a history of distrusting police

The complicated history of the voter ID law in Georgia

PS, For those of you who are "sick and tired of reading about Trayvon and race" on RedEye's Front Page, go here, they are not talking about Trayvon Martin at all.  That is the great thing about the Internet,  you aren't forced to read about anything you don't want to read about.