QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “South Carolina likes to sanitize things the way no other state does. The truth does hurt. People don’t like to hear it.” – Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina chapter of the NAACP, commenting on the tabling of legislation that would have removed from the grounds of the state capitol a statue of “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman, an avowed white supremacist, (Associated Press, 4-10-08) See story below.




News of the Week

STATUE OF “PITCHFORK” BEN TILLMAN WILL REMAIN ON THE GROUNDS OF THE SOUTH CAROLINA CAPITOL: An effort to remove a statue of “Pitchfork” Ben Tillman from the grounds of the state capitol in Columbia, South Carolina, has failed. Legislation calling for the removal of the statue or the addition of a plaque that relates that Tillman was a staunch advocate of white supremacy died in a House subcommittee. Tillman served as governor of South Carolina from 1890 to 1894 and later in the U.S. Senate. He was the South’s leading proponent of white supremacy. Shortly after taking office President Theodore Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House. Tillman expressed his outrage: “The action of President Roosevelt in entertaining that nigger will necessitate our killing a thousand niggers in the South before they will learn their place again.”


COIN TO COMMEMORATE FIFTIETH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT OF 1964: By a voice vote, the U.S House of Representatives passed legislation and sent it to the Senate that authorizes the U.S. Mint to produce a commemorative $1 coin that will be issued in 2014 to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. A section of the legislation designates that a portion of the proceeds from the sale of this commemorative coin will be donated to the United Negro College Fund. Coin sales are expected to raise about $2.5 million for the UNCF.



STUDY FINDS THAT MEN TEND TO BE MORE RACIST THAN WOMEN: A new study by researchers at the University of Southern California finds that there are significant gender differences in racial discrimination. The study involved interviews of more than 3,300 people on the telephone and through anonymous Internet surveys. In telephone interviews, men were 9 percent more likely than women to voice discriminatory views against African Americans. But in the anonymous Internet surveys, men were more than 17 percent more likely than women to express views that found racial discrimination acceptable.


NEW MUSEUM TO HONOR CHICAGO’S BLACK FIREFIGHTERS: The Chicago Fire Department’s African-American Firefighter Museum will be established in an old firehouse that has been closed for four years. The city of Chicago will lease the building for $1 per year to the nonprofit organization, which will operate the museum. The old firehouse on Harper Avenue was the scene of an infamous 1990 retirement party where white firefighters were filmed drinking beer and singing racist songs.



NUMBER OF BLACK PLAYERS IN MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL CONTINUES TO DECLINE: The new baseball season is under way and black players now make up their lowest percentage of all athletes in the Major Leagues in some time. This year blacks are 8.2 percent of all Major League players, down from 8.4 percent a year ago. A generation ago, blacks were about one quarter of all baseball players.


Recent Racial Incidents in the United States


DISCOVERY BAY, CALIFORNIA: Vandals spray-painted racist graffiti at a gated community near Discovery Bay, California. The graffiti on the community’s pool building included swastikas, white power slogans, and the words, “Go home niggas.” Similar graffiti was found nearby on a sound barrier alongside a local road and in a nearby park. (Contra Costa Times, 4-8-08)



BYRON, MICHIGAN: The unoccupied home of a black man in Byron, Michigan, was set ablaze by a Molotov cocktail thrown through a window. Two other incendiary devices were found outside the home. Racial graffiti was found written on the side of the house. (Flint Journal, 4-11-08)



OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS: A black employee of the school district in Overland Park, Kansas, reported that a noose was left on his chair. The employee said that, previously, the tires of his car had been slashed. (Kansas City Star, 4-11-08)



DALLAS, TEXAS: Vought Aircraft Industries agreed to a $1.5 million settlement of an employment discrimination lawsuit. Blacks, Asians, and women claimed that they were denied employment due to an unfair application screening and examination. (Dallas Business Journal, 4-11-08)


SANDUSKY, OHIO: A white trooper for the Ohio Highway Patrol was suspended without pay after a photograph was produced showing him wearing a handmade Ku Klux Klan costume. The trooper was based in Sandusky, Ohio, where all the officers in the post are white. (Associated Press, 4-12-08)


ORANGE CITY, FLORIDA: A black woman in Orange City, Florida, claims she was not permitted to rent an apartment because of her race. The woman says she was told there were no vacancies at an apartment complex. Suspecting that racial discrimination had occurred, the woman had a white friend call to inquire about apartment availability. The white woman was told there were apartments for rent in the complex. (Orlando Sentinel, 4-12-08)


LAS CRUCES, NEW MEXICO: Four faculty members and one graduate student at New Mexico State University found racist and threatening notes that had been slipped under their office doors. The five people are among a group that has complained of race and gender discrimination and intimidation at the university’s College of Health and Social Services. Four of the five notes contained racist slurs directed against African Americans. The note received by the graduate student, who is from Zimbabwe, said, “Nigger shut the fuck up and get out of Las Cruces and NMSU and go back to Africa ASAP or else.” (Albuquerque Journal, 4-15-08)


BAY CITY, MICHIGAN: A black cook at at restaurant in Bay City, Michigan, claims he was taken to a back room by a white employee and shown a hanging noose. The black cook stated that the restaurant manager knew the noose was hanging in the room and did not take it down. (Bay City Times, 4-15-08)



SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: A white man was arrested on ethnic intimidation charges in Seattle, Washington. The man was seen outside a predominantly black school. He told a teacher, “We are going to kill all the black people.” He then went near the school playground and shouted, “You’re an abomination to the planet. Curse to Africa. Curse to your kind.” The white man then threw a brick at a teacher who tried to chase him away from the school. (Seattle Post-Intelligencer, 4-16-08)


AUSTIN, TEXAS: A black state trooper in Texas won a $900,000 judgment in a race discrimination lawsuit. The trooper said he was subjected to racial harassment, demoted, and had his pay reduced. The trooper was one of 20 officers assigned to the security detail for Texas governor Rick Perry. (Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 4-16-08)


ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI: A black worker for a wastewater treatment plant in St. Louis found a stuffed monkey hanging in his locker. About 20 percent of the work force at the plant is black. (Associated Press, 4-17-08)


BATTLE GROUND, WASHINGTON: The son of the deputy mayor of Battle Ground, Washington, sent an e-mail message to members of the city council. The message was referring to a black man who had just joined the council. The e-mail read: “Our city government must be corrupt to have this nigger as an elected official.” The message was signed, “Sincerely, a nigger hater.” (The Columbian, 4-17-08)



TRACKING HATE CRIMES: For week April 13-19, the term “hate crime” appeared in the nation’s major newspapers and magazines 210 times. This is slightly less than the 215 mentions of the term in the prior week. So far in 2008, hate crimes were mentioned 4,768 times in the national press. In the January 1 to April 19, 2007 period, hate crimes were mentioned 4,768 times in the national media.




Reprinted in the WORD with permission from Race Relations Reporter © 2008 copyright.