Quote Of The Week: “You see 14 white police officers beating three black males. In my area where I live, I see it constantly.” – Lonnie Randolph, president of the South Carolina chapter of the - Lemoia Dyches, the mother of one of three black men pulled from a car by Philadelphia police and beaten and kicked. The incident, which occurred on May 5, was videotaped by a reporter in a news helicopter. The officers were suspended. The police commissioner said race played no role in the incident.



News of the Week

RACIAL GAP IN BREAST-FEEDING HAS NARROWED SIGNIFICANTLY SINCE THE MID-1990s: Most pediatricians believe that children who are breast-fed are healthier than bottle-fed babies. Studies have shown that breast-fed babies are also less likely than other babies to become obese later in life. Black women traditionally have been less likely than white women to breast-feed. But a new report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found the racial gap is narrowing. In 1995 only 36 percent of African-American babies were breast-fed compared to 62 percent of white babies. The latest data shows that 79 percent of white babies are breast-fed compared to 65 percent of black babies. It is true that a significant racial gap remains, but the disparity has narrowed considerably since the mid-1990s.

LAPD SAYS RACIAL PROFILING NOT A PROBLEM: The Los Angeles Police Department’s relationship with the African-American community has always been strained. As a result, many observers were skeptical of an Internal Affairs Division report on racial profiling released late last month. The report found that of the 320 allegations of racial profiling investigated in 2007, the Internal Affairs Division said it had not found a single case where the complaint had merit. It was the sixth consecutive year that the internal police-monitoring unit found zero instances of racial profiling.

IOWA ADDRESSES HUGE RACIAL DISPARITY IN PRISON INMATE POPULATION: Last year a report from the Sentencing Project found that the state of Iowa had the largest racial disparity for prison inmates of all 50 states. The report found that the black percentage of the state prison population was 12 times the black percentage of the state’s population. In part, because of the Sentencing Project analysis, Iowa has become the first state to require lawmakers to examine the racial impact of all new laws, regulations, orders, and procedures that deal with the criminal justice system in the state.

BLACK WOMAN WHO CHALLENGED BAN ON INTERRACIAL MARRIAGE HAS DIED: Mildred Jeter Loving, the black woman who filed the lawsuit which led to the landmark 1967 Supreme Court case that prohibited states from placing a ban on interracial marriages, has died from pneumonia at her home in Central Point, Virginia. She was 68 years old. The families of Mildred Jeter and Richard Loving lived in Caroline County, Virginia. The couple met while in high school, fell in love, and Mildred became pregnant. Due to a law enacted in 1662 banning interracial marriages in Virginia, the couple drove to Washington, D.C., to get married. One night a few months later, police burst into their bedroom and arrested the couple for violating Virginia’s ban on interracial marriages. The Lovings pleaded guilty. In a plea bargain deal, the couple avoided prison by agreeing to leave the state. In 1963 Mildred Loving, inspired by the early successes of the civil rights movement, decided to file a lawsuit seeking to overturn the ban on interracial marriage that still existed in Virginia and 15 other states. The case was finally decided in the Lovings’ favor by a unanimous Supreme Court in 1967. Richard Loving died in an automobile accident in 1975. Today there are more than 4 million interracial marriages in the United States.


Recent Racial Incidents in the United States

PINOLE, CALIFORNIA: A noose was found hanging on a tree outside a high school in Pinole, California. One white student made the noose and left it on the ground. Another white student found the noose and hung it from a tree. (Contra Costa Times, 4-30-08)

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: A white professor at the law school of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock has filed a lawsuit claiming he was defamed by two black students and the Black Law School Students Association. The professor claims that the black students unfairly described him as racist to others on campus which defamed his character. The professor has voiced views critical of affirmative action. (New York Times, 5-1-08)

ALLEN, TEXAS: A group of black parents has filed a formal grievance with the school district in Allen, Texas. The parents said that their children were left off the cheerleading squad because of their race. No blacks were selected for 36 positions on the cheerleading squad, although 11 percent of the student body is black. Four blacks who were on the squad this year tried out for next year’s squad but all were rejected. (Dallas Morning News, 5-3-08)

CEDAR RAPIDS, IOWA: The Cedar Rapids Civil Rights Commission has filed 30 housing discrimination complaints against landlords in the Iowa city. The commission states that it sent black and white testers to a wide number of apartments. Three quarters of the landlords or property managers were said to have acted in violation of the Fair Housing Act. In some cases, black testers were told there were no vacancies when white testers the same day were shown apartments.(Cedar Rapids Gazette, 5-4-08)

TEXARKANA, ARKANSAS: A white county judge in Texarkana, Arkansas, is running for reelection. A memo supposedly written by the judge was circulated to voters in the county. The memo, written on the judge’s stationery, read, “I need your help in getting rid of blacks in the Road Department. All I need blacks for is votes, nothing else.” The judge has called the memo bogus and prosecutors are investigating the origins of the memo. (Texarkana Gazette, 5-6-08)

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA: A white student at a high school in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, fashioned a noose out of an electrical wire and hung it from a pipe in the school. The incident sparked racial tensions in the school. Many black students report that they have been called “nigger” by white students in school corridors. (Allentown Morning Call, 5-6-08)

BETHLEHEM, PENNSYLVANIA: Black workers for Conectiv Energy and three of its subcontractors won a $1.6 million settlement of a race discrimination lawsuit. The discrimination allegedly occurred at a power plant in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. The four black workers claimed that they were subjected to racial slurs on the job site and had swastikas painted on their hard hats. Racist graffiti was written on the walls of the portable toilets and a noose was hung in the workplace and was not taken down for 10 days. The black men allege that white coworkers openly recruited other whites for membership in the Ku Klux Klan. (Allentown Morning Call, 5-6-08)

ROCKWOOD, TENNESSEE: A group of black parents claim that their children are subjected to racial abuse at a middle school in Rockwood, Tennessee, while the school administration does not take any action to stop it. Black students are reportedly subjected to slurs by white students. One white student allegedly threatened to hang a black student and burn his body. (Knoxville News-Sentinel,5-6-08)

BOISE, IDAHO: A high school student in Boise, Idaho, claims he was subjected to a racial slur by a local bus driver on his way home from school. The student did not have the required fare and asked other students already on the bus to let him borrow the money. But the bus driver called him a “stupid nigger” and told him to get off the bus. (Idaho Statesman, 5-6-08)

LITTLE ROCK, ARKANSAS: A black woman has filed a race discrimination lawsuit against the school district in Little Rock, Arkansas. The woman is seeking class-action status for 50 or more black workers who either lost their job or were unfairly reassigned to lower-paying jobs. The woman who filed the suit had worked as a secretary for the school communications office at a salary of more than $35,000. After a reorganization plan was adopted, she was assigned duty as a cafeteria worker at a salary of $10,000. The woman claims that black workers were more likely than white workers to receive demotions. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 5-7-08)

EASTON, PENNSYLVANIA: Two race-related incidents occurred on the campus of Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania. Two black students were writing slogans favorable to presidential candidate Barack Obama in chalk on the sidewalk outside a fraternity house. The two were surrounded by fraternity members. One white student reportedly said, “The only problem with America is welfare and those people need to get jobs.” Also, racial slurs were spray-painted on the stall of a bathroom in a campus dormitory. Blacks make up 5 percent of the 2,400 students on campus. (Allentown Morning Call, 5-8-08)

ELKHART, INDIANA: A cross was erected and set on fire outside the home of an interracial couple in Elkhart, Indiana. The five-foot cross was leaned against a tree about 15 feet from the front door of the couple’s home. (Associated Press, 5-8-08)




TRACKING HATE CRIMES: For week May 4-10, the term “hate crime” appeared in the nation’s major newspapers and magazines 192 times. This is less than the 287 mentions of the term in the prior week. So far in 2008, hate crimes were mentioned 5,726 times in the national press. In the January 1 to May 10, 2007 period, hate crimes were mentioned 6,109 times in the national media.





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