white – Page 4

Latest legal hurdle to removing Confederate statues in Virginia: The wishes of their long-dead white donors

19Jun

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS, SOCIAL JUSTICE

Latest legal hurdle to removing Confederate statues in Virginia: The wishes of their long-dead white donors

A controversial statue of Robert E. Lee will remain in place in Richmond, the former capital of the American Confederacy –- at least temporarily. On June 18, a judge extended an injunction barring the removal of the Confederate general’s statue, stating that “the monument is the property of the people,” not the state of Virginia, which seeks its removal. In early June Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam vowed to dismantle the prominent Lee statue in Richmond, the state capital, following sustained, nationwide protests over police brutality and racism. That plan was blocked by a 10-day court injunction – now extended through late July – based on the petition of a man whose ancestor, Otway Allen, gave Virginia the land the the sculpture sits on. In his petition, William C. Gregory claimed that di...

Why are white supremacists protesting the deaths of black people?

3Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Why are white supremacists protesting the deaths of black people?

As protests about police violence among black people continue and become more widespread across the U.S., certain individuals and groups have begun to stand out – including anarchists, agitators and members of a variety of far-right groups. With the country’s long history of racist killings, it may be confusing to think that racists and white supremacists are among those objecting to the killing of people of color. But people affiliated with far-right groups aren’t trying to be part of the overall protest movement. Having researched these groups, we think it’s likely that they are attempting to hijack the event for their own purposes. As researchers of street gangs and far-right groups, we see that in this case, they want to stoke a civil war between the races – one they think they can ...

There’s a history of white supremacists interpreting government leaders’ words as encouragement

18May

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

SOCIAL JUSTICE

There’s a history of white supremacists interpreting government leaders’ words as encouragement

White supremacist and militia organizations are exploiting the government’s chaotic response to the coronavirus for recruitment efforts. Whatever his intention, these groups interpret President Donald Trump’s tweets to “LIBERATE” states and calling armed protesters “very good people” as support for their cause. Recent research by the Tech Transparency Project into social media accounts of white supremacists, a nonprofit that researches “the influence of the major technology platforms” on politics, policy and people’s lives, found that “some members of private … Facebook groups reacted to the president’s rhetoric (about lockdown protests) with memes of celebration.” The white supremacists’ response reflects the United States’ history of local, state and national political leaders encoura...

Why are white supremacists protesting to ‘reopen’ the US economy?

29Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

POLITICS

Why are white supremacists protesting to ‘reopen’ the US economy?

A series of protests, primarily in state capitals, are demanding the end of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions. Among the protesters are people who express concern about their jobs or the economy as a whole. But there are also far-right conspiracy theorists, white supremacists like Proud Boys and citizens’ militia members at these protests. The exact number of each group that attends these protests is unknown, since police have not traditionally monitored these groups, but signs and symbols of far right groups have been seen at many of these protests across the country. These protests risk spreading the virus and have disrupted traffic, potentially delaying ambulances. But as researchers of street gangs’ and far-right groups’ violence and recruitment, we believe these protests may become a w...

Slave Cabin Sleepovers Are Helping Black And White Participants To Create Healing Conversations

24Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

LIFESTYLE

Slave Cabin Sleepovers Are Helping Black And White Participants To Create Healing Conversations

By 1860, more than 40,000 plantations in the United States each had 20 or more enslaved Africans. Today, hundreds of those same plantations operate as museums, but only a handful tell the stories of the enslaved who lived, toiled, and died there. Meanwhile, lifestyle magazines tout plantations as a destination—weddings have become the latest trend—emphasizing their idyllic verdant settings and stately architecture. The Whitney Plantation is the only plantation, of the 375 existing locations, expressly designed to center the narrative of slavery, but Black conservationists and historical interpreters such as Joe McGill are collaborating with plantation owners, government agencies, and the public to center the history of enslaved Africans at those historical 46,300 plantations, and broade...

Lynching preachers: How black pastors resisted Jim Crow and white pastors incited racial violence

10Feb

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

Lynching preachers: How black pastors resisted Jim Crow and white pastors incited racial violence

White lynch mobs in America murdered at least 4,467 people between 1883 and 1941, hanging, burning, dismembering, garroting and blowtorching their victims. Their violence was widespread but not indiscriminate: About 3,300 of the lynched were black, according to the most recent count by sociologists Charles Seguin and David Rigby. The remaining dead were white, Mexican, of Mexican descent, Native American, Chinese or Japanese. Such numbers, based on verifiable newspaper reports, represent a minimum. The full human toll of racial lynching may remain ever beyond reach. Religion was no barrier for these white murderers, as I’ve discovered in my research on Christianity and lynch mobs in the Reconstruction-era South. White preachers incited racial violence, joined the Ku Klux Klan and lynche...

Code-Switching Surviving White Culture Not Trying to Fit in to It

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IMPACT

Code-Switching Surviving White Culture Not Trying to Fit in to It

The voice that sprung from my throat was unfamiliar as I introduced myself to a classroom of White students. Its tone was high-pitched and enthusiastic—a far cry from my naturally soft raspiness. It wasn’t the first time I was unsettled by being the sole Black person in a room, but these moments had a profound effect on me. Without thought, I’d shifted my demeanor and speech. My thoughts were calculated, quickened, and in search of the “right” things to say. The words poured from my mouth pointed and stiff. I enunciated each consonant and vowel, and stressed each syllable. The production of it all, though a departure from my normal self, was seamless. It was the first time I noticed I had code-switched. Admittedly, I was later ashamed for abandoning my native tongue—African American Ver...

White ladies cooking in plantation museums are a denial of history

13Dec

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

Journalism

White ladies cooking in plantation museums are a denial of history

Fall is almost gone and winter is coming, as are hundreds of hearth cooking demonstrations at countless historic homes and plantations throughout the nation. Like an automated clock, historic kitchens become the center stage for historical storytelling at this time of year. In New England, these stories sit firmly in the mythos of Thanksgiving, focusing on sterilized versions of the 1621 feast between Pilgrims and Wampanoag. In the mid-Atlantic, these stories blend their Amish, German and Dutch roots to talk about Colonial fare in early America. But while these two regions must always deal with issues of accuracy, the South’s historic sites have remained locked in a myth of their own. Misrepresenting reality I spent a decade researching and writing about enslaved plantation cooks and le...

Why support for the death penalty is much higher among white Americans

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

Why support for the death penalty is much higher among white Americans

Sentencing a person to die is the ultimate punishment. There is no coming back from the permanence of the death penalty. People who oppose the death penalty cannot serve on juries in those cases. Crazy City Lady/Shutterstock.com In the U.S., the death penalty is currently authorized by the federal government, the military and 29 states. The primary rationale for using the death penalty is deterrence. As public policy, I believe that capital punishment has largely not proved to be an effective deterrent. Nevertheless, for decades the death penalty has been popular. However, support for the death penalty has been declining over the past 25 years and is near historic lows. Critics point to issues such as inhumane killing procedures, a plunge in crime rates and the death penalty’s high cost...

4Apr

By THEIRL1ADMIN01No Comments

IN OTHER NEWS

White Officer Aaron Dean Charged With Murder Of Atatiana Jefferson

Texas police officer Aaron Dean shot and killed Atatiana Jefferson as she stood inside her home on Saturday morning. Bouquets of flowers and stuffed animals are piling up outside the Fort Worth home where a 28-year-old black woman was shot to death by a white police officer [Jake Bleiberg/AP Photo] A white police officer who shot and killed an African American woman in her Fort Worth, Texas, home in the presence of her eight-year-old nephew was charged with murder on Monday after resigning from the force. The Fort Worth Police Department said its officers were responding to a call from a neighbour, who reported to a non-emergency line, that Atatiana Jefferson's front door had been left open. The responding officer fired a shot through a window, killing 28...