NAACP L.A. Chapter - What Were They Thinking

It is one thing to hear Donald Sterling's massa of plantation remarks that shows his total disgust for Black people, but what is even more amazing was that a Black organization, the L.A. Chapter of the NAACP, had made plans to present this racist with a Life Time Achievement award after his known history of discrimination against people of color. Is the L.A. chapter for real??!! This Black organization could not find anyone throughout the entire Los Angeles, who has worked tirelessly to help the community, but a racist?  Black ancestors who fought and died for freedom of their people must be turning in their graves at such a slap-in-the face from the L.A. chapter.  In fact, was the intention of the L.A. chapter actually to reap financial benefits from Sterling for presenting him with such an award? The chapter's withdrawal of the award does not dismiss the fact that such plans were not only a stupid decision but will be an embarrassment to the organization for many years to come. A once reputable civil rights organization has become the laughing stock of the nation. One step forward, two steps backward.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/peter-dreier/racist-donald-sterling_b_5223223.html?utm_hp_ref=politics

Clarence Thomas - Forgotten Where He Came From

The Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a Michigan law banning the use of racial criteria in college admissions. Of course, here we go again, Clarence Thomas, was one of the justices who voted to uphold the Michigan law. No surprise .............he already benefited from affirmative action, so he couldn't care less for the academic needs of future generation minorities. 

           Internalized racism is the personal conscious or subconscious 

            acceptance of the dominant society’s racist views, stereotypes

            and biases of one’s ethnic group. It gives rise to patterns of 

            thinking, feeling and behaving that result in discriminating, 

            minimizing, criticizing, finding fault, invalidating, and hating 

            oneself while simultaneously valuing the dominant culture. ~ Suzanne Lipsky

Previous post - June, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled on two important racial cases. One ruling was on the law suit between Fisher vs. University of Texas.  The other case involved the Voters Right Act, Section 4. It is certainly expected how particular members of the U.S. Supreme Court voted since those justices, for the most part, have always lived a life of privilege. They have no connection to or do not want to have any association with the "real" world where people live in poverty or 'hand to mouth'.  They do not know what is it like to be discriminated against or mistreated simply because of the color of one's skin, race, and religious beliefs, etc. Chief Justice John Robert made this fact obvious with his ignorant response that our country has changed for the better as it relates to the minority vote. Frankly, his statement demonstrates indifference to the obvious voter suppression tactics that occurred throughout the country during the last presidential election.  However, it is most alarming and quite embarrassing that Clarence Thomas would have the nerve to respond  for the University of Texas case that the continuing use of diversity programs in the classroom is unconstitutional!!?? What a hypocrite!! It is precisely because of those diversity programs that Thomas was accepted into a university and a law school that enabled him to progress to be where he is today. It is even more hypocritical, since he comes from a dirt poor Southern background, where racism, mistreatment, and lynching of Blacks were prevalent. In spite of the horrific treatment, suffered by more than likely even his forefathers,  he still voted against upholding the Voters Right  Act, Section 4. . Thomas has surely forgotten where he is coming from. However, in the years to come, Thomas will leave an unfavorable legacy of not only Anita Hill's sexual harassment charges but also his unconscionable decisions against the minority population.

Worldwide Uprisings Have Been A Failure

When the spate of uprisings against dominant dictators and their governments began, there was hope that citizens in my parents' native country would have also participated in an uprising against their corrupt government. Now, the feelings is that it is a good thing that no one in that country had the courage to engage in such protests because, for the most part, all the uprisings in this century have been failures. Yes, dictators and their governments have been overthrown,  but none of the protesters appeared to have considered what could eventually have occurred after the fall of the dictatorship. The protesters had absolutely no plan for the future rule and stability of their countries. In all the cases, Libya, Egypt, Sudan, Ukraine - not to mention the ongoing civil war in Syria, the basic living conditions and stability of the countries have gotten worse.  So much hope was expected on making these countries into democratic nations, yet the continued unrest, violence, and steadily climbing death rates have lead to nations of uncertainty. The overthrow of Prime MinisterYulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine has presented a totally different situation since it has opened a big can of worms with the Russian government's intervention. The current troubles in these countries could definitely not have been envisioned by the protesters. So, is overthrowing a government worth it? From all indications, certainly not.

Dream Act's Forgotten Students

At a recent Dream Act media  blitz at Miami  Dade College, scholarships were awarded to students who appeared to meet the criteria. The concerns of the students who desire passage of the proposed Dream Act or any other similar law are certainly understandable since all students should be entitled to achieve their dream of obtaining student grants or loans or other opportunities to pursue a higher education. Certainly it is not the fault of these students that they are undocumented, so they should not have to bear the burden of their parents by being deprived of a higher education.  Therefore, awarding scholarships provides those students with a well-deserved opportunity to achieve their educational dreams. However, this media conference showed a flaw that has been persistent throughout the promotion of the proposed act - only the Latinos are shown as deserving of any benefits. However, there are many other cultures who require assistance from any offerings under the proposed Dream Act. These students have an additional burden since they never seem to be visible in the public eye when the news cameras are present to photograph any events that bring awareness to the plight of these undocumented students.  This gives the wrong impression that the undocumented difficulties only apply to Latino students.  People who are advocates of the dream act need to do a better job of including other cultures who are just as deprived as Latino students in their struggle to obtain a higher education.

Josh Elliott - Greed At It's Best

"In the end, it had nothing to do with money," Josh Elliott claimed in his interview with People Magazine. Really??!! So, why was he re-negotiating with the ABC network for a new contract paying $10 million? Obviously, money must have been a primary factor. If not, he certainly would not have made a decision to negotiate instead with the NBC network after learning from ABC that he may be worth receiving an additional  $1 million on his  current $4 million contract - but he surely was not worth paying $10 million. Like a spoilt child, presuming he would stick it to ABC, he decided to quit and take a position  with NBC Sports. Ironically,  they, too, have seen his worth as no more than $4 million!!?? What is so troubling about this case is the greed of this man  who was already making so much  more money than an ordinary person who can only dream of earning such an enormous salary. One thing though is, even  if Josh Elliott may believe that he's "all that" and ABC cannot  do without him, he will quickly realize that he can very easily be replaced like anyone else. The  show will go on and even may be more successful without him.