Salem-News.com Racism articles Page 17

Archbishop Makes False Start in Holy Land

Long-suffering Gaza and Bethlehem communities ignored - “no effort to go to the heart of the issues”

(LONDON) - Before he left for the Holy Land I telephoned Justin Welby’s office for details of his first visit as the new Archbishop of Canterbury, only to be told none were available in advance. So I emailed a list of questions….

When there was no reply and it became obvious he wasn't going to Gaza I sent a second email: "It seems that the Archbishop will not be visiting Gaza in spite of the desperate plight of the Christian community and their Muslim brothers and sisters. Was he prevented by the Israelis from including Gaza on his itinerary?

Court Cripples Voting Rights Act

Greenlining Institute: Congress Must Act to Protect Democracy

(BERKELEY, CA) - The Supreme Court effectively gutted a key provision of the Voting Rights Act today.

This effectively throws out the map that determines which states or localities must get federal permission before they change their voting laws.

Court Leaves Affirmative Action Unresolved--But its Days are Numbered

Court sends clear signal that the era of explicitly race-based affirmative action is coming to an end.

(WASHINGTON DC) - The Supreme Court has put off a decision on the legal merits of race-based affirmative action programs.

In Fisher v. University of Texas, Abigail Fisher, a white student who was denied admission to the University of Texas in 2008, charged that the college policy of considering race violated her civil and constitutional rights.

Prisons Full of Innocents

Do police feeding a false confession to their victim mean well? When they falsely report on that procedure to a court do they mean well? When they use tape recorders but shut them off each time they feed the prisoner new facts, do they mean well? When they hide evidence?

(WASHINGTON DC) - There are probably more innocent men and women in prison in the United States now than there were people in prison here total -- innocent and guilty -- 30 years ago, or than there are total people in prison (proportionately or as an absolute number) in most nations on earth.

I don't mean that people are locked up for actions that shouldn't be considered crimes, although they are.

Father`s Day with Bill Cosby, an American Original

In 2002, scholar Molefi Kete Asante included Bill Cosby in the book, "The 100 Greatest African Americans."

(WASHINGTON DC) - This Father's Day, I was invited by my son Burke and his fiancé Amelia to attend a performance by Bill Cosby at Wolftrap National Park for the Performing Arts in Northern Virginia.

Cosby proclaimed himself "old"---soon to celebrate his 76th birthday---but he sat on stage for nearly three hours, without a break, and there was never s lull in the laughter.

`Who are my People` Film Premieres

EMMY® Award winning filmmaker Robert Lundahl takes a hard look at U.S. energy policy and its effects on desert ecosystems and communities across the West.

(SAN DIEGO) - The Bureau of Land Management scoping meeting for the Rio Mesa Solar Plant outside Blythe, California likely caused heartburn for the BLM, applicant Brightsource, and related subcontractors and agencies last Fall.

Time and time again Native elders stood up to declare concerns and articulate potentially unresolvable conflicts of values, goals and process.

Black People Still Treated Like Slaves in Papua, Indonesia

Papuans are banned from raising their national flag, singing traditional Papuan songs or from wearing traditional dress.

(OCCUPIED PAPUA, Inonesia) - This is the side of Indonesia that the country doesn't want you to know about.

Black people are still treated like slaves in Indonesian occupied West Papua. The accompanying photo shows hundreds of Melanesian Papuans being arrested and led away like animals by the Indonesian military...

Steinbeck Country in 2013: The Good Old Boy Network is Alive and Well

Apparently, that smallness of mind since Steinbeck’s time hasn’t gone away. It lingers, and not just among the drunks but among ranchers, land and property owners too, and conservatives who balk at any liberal idea.

(CAYUCOS, CA) - I met a longtime resident at the local bar the other night who challenged me on just about everything from the moment I walked in.

“You live around here?” Sure, I said. He introduced me to his wife of 40-plus years, a beauty, stately and queenly. He told me she’s from a long line of settlers who moved here in the 19th century. She smiled at me, like a queen.

How Soon We Forget

Radical, religious extremists are all over the world and are bad for humanity. They use religion to justify bigotry and violence against other people.

(OKINAWA) - When the word radicals and terrorists are mentioned, what is your first thought?

Since the horrific events of 9/11, people of a certain skin tone or religious preference have been stereotyped, profiled, harassed, and pre-judged as being anti-American or terrorist.

State Advocacy Commission Chair Apologizes for Racially Insensitive Remarks

Gov. John Kitzhaber still refuses to reveal why two Black commissioners were fired last year.

(PORTLAND, OR) - The chair of the Oregon Commission on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs this month officially apologized to Gov. John Kitzhaber for making racially insensitive comments about Black students and their families during a public hearing.

Meanwhile, state officials have still never explained why they booted two men off the Oregon Commission for Black Affairs last year...