2023 Thread of Racism in America

[David Dennison 18851]

1 hour ago, RomaVicta said:

As the thread proves over and over, we got a white man problem. 

My honky.

[bolverk 29659]

Oklahoma Supreme Court Dismisses Tulsa Massacre Lawsuit
The last known remaining survivors of the 1921 attack by a white mob were hoping for their day in court.

A historic quest for justice by the last two known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre ended with a state court ruling on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of their lawsuit, the final legal stop for Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Ford Fletcher, 110.

The women, who were small children at the time, argued that the destruction of what was then known as Black Wall Street and the massacre of up to 300 African Americans by a white mob amounted to an ongoing public nuisance, and they sought reparations.

The ruling concludes the lawsuit that Ms. Randle and Ms. Fletcher filed in 2020. Last year, another survivor of the massacre, Hughes Van Ellis, the younger brother of Ms. Fletcher, died at 102.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa was a cultural and economic success story that came to be known as Black Wall Street. On May 31, 1921, a white mob gathered outside a county courthouse in Tulsa where a young Black man was being held over allegations that he had assaulted a young white woman.

White men deputized by the civil officials assaulted the neighborhood from the ground and the sky. Within two days, Greenwood was no more: 35 city blocks were reduced to heaping ashes, up to 300 of its citizens were dead and thousands were left homeless. The attack erased generational wealth that had been built at a time of great racial oppression.

No person or entity was ever held responsible, and no survivors were ever formally. compensated for their losses.

The lawsuit, filed under Oklahoma’s public nuisance law, contends that the massacre’s impact continues to be felt acutely more than a century later. Damario Solomon-Simmons, the lead lawyer for the survivors, said the city’s enduring racial disparities, economic inequalities and trauma among survivors and their descendants are evidence of the massacre’s long reach.

Officials have argued that while the massacre was horrific, they should not be held accountable for events that happened in 1921.

[Pancho 44721]

 

[Willfully Horn 8002]

3 minutes ago, Pancho said:

 

Well, alright!

[Macanudo 12976]

7 minutes ago, Pancho said:

 

I am very gruntled.

[Nice Guy Eddie 13509]

On 5/4/2024 at 6:52 PM, DixonHur said:

*13%

Deleted from the DT by @blacklab in response to a @Frank Drebin claim that the SEC is a bastion of diversity while the PAC 12 is "lily white"

Source:

College Factual

 

Late on a reply but did we have hide that Texas was only 39% white, non-hispanic for our admittance into the SEC? Those in the upper 70s might be questioning that decision when they see this.

[RomaVicta 29902]

From the New York Times.

Quote

The Justice Department announced on Thursday the results of a yearslong investigation that found Phoenix police had used excessive force and discriminatory policing against Black, Hispanic and Native American people.

The findings came in a 126-page report, that said the Phoenix police department committed constitutional and statutory violations in all five areas investigated: excessive use of force, discriminatory and retaliatory policing, and its treatment of the homeless and disabled people.

“The Justice Department has concluded there is reasonable cause to believe that the City of Phoenix and the Phoenix Police Department engage in a pattern or practice of conduct that deprives its residents and visitors, including Black, Hispanic and Native American people, of their rights under the Constitution and federal law,” Attorney General Merrick B. Garland said in a statement.

 

Practicing for the rounding up and moving out to come should Trump become president again.

We live in great days.

[safe sex 11703]

50 minutes ago, Pancho said:

 

He was also an Associate Editor at Marvel and played a role in North Star coming out as the first openly gay superhero character. Living the queer dream!

['stache 21801]

On 6/12/2024 at 1:18 PM, bolverk said:

Oklahoma Supreme Court Dismisses Tulsa Massacre Lawsuit
The last known remaining survivors of the 1921 attack by a white mob were hoping for their day in court.

A historic quest for justice by the last two known survivors of the Tulsa Race Massacre ended with a state court ruling on Wednesday.

The Oklahoma Supreme Court affirmed a lower court’s dismissal of their lawsuit, the final legal stop for Lessie Benningfield Randle, 109, and Viola Ford Fletcher, 110.

The women, who were small children at the time, argued that the destruction of what was then known as Black Wall Street and the massacre of up to 300 African Americans by a white mob amounted to an ongoing public nuisance, and they sought reparations.

The ruling concludes the lawsuit that Ms. Randle and Ms. Fletcher filed in 2020. Last year, another survivor of the massacre, Hughes Van Ellis, the younger brother of Ms. Fletcher, died at 102.

In the early part of the 20th century, the Greenwood neighborhood of Tulsa was a cultural and economic success story that came to be known as Black Wall Street. On May 31, 1921, a white mob gathered outside a county courthouse in Tulsa where a young Black man was being held over allegations that he had assaulted a young white woman.

White men deputized by the civil officials assaulted the neighborhood from the ground and the sky. Within two days, Greenwood was no more: 35 city blocks were reduced to heaping ashes, up to 300 of its citizens were dead and thousands were left homeless. The attack erased generational wealth that had been built at a time of great racial oppression.

No person or entity was ever held responsible, and no survivors were ever formally. compensated for their losses.

The lawsuit, filed under Oklahoma’s public nuisance law, contends that the massacre’s impact continues to be felt acutely more than a century later. Damario Solomon-Simmons, the lead lawyer for the survivors, said the city’s enduring racial disparities, economic inequalities and trauma among survivors and their descendants are evidence of the massacre’s long reach.

Officials have argued that while the massacre was horrific, they should not be held accountable for events that happened in 1921.

From a purely legal analysis, the court had no choice (the sole dissent was only in part and he didn't write an opinion so it's not clear where he disagreed). There's just no viable legal theory to make the City of Tulsa pay reparations through a nuisance claim. What I always found problematic is that the City of Tulsa is funded entirely by sales taxes (somewhat unusual) and any judgment would be paid from those sales taxes, which of course is one of the most regressive taxes that exists, and I just don't see how that works out equitably. It also wouldn't capture the subsequent waves of racism in this state and city that were far more devastating economically to the Black community over time. 

The court's last line in this paragraph has been my position. The wrongs from that era can, and should, be resolved through legislation and a broader funding mechanism. Every (or most) sessions of Congress has had introduced a bill to establish a commission to study reparations and issue proposals for reparations. It never gets a vote, because the majority in this country still lacks the will. I get wanting courts to intercede but there just isn't a legal basis for it at this point.The Tulsa Massacre was the worst, but only one of many in a span of several years, and that event in and of itself did not kill Greenwood, it actually came back stronger, until it was destroyed by Urban Renewal and the next wave of racist policies (i.e., redlining, etc.). 

And for the record, the Oklahoma Supreme Court is still relatively sane considering the redness of the other two branches, so there's no gqp fuckery going on with this decision. On the same day they issued this opinion it ruled unanimously against the state superintendent's crusade to force local school boards to ban books. They also upheld mask mandates in schools during the pandemic. I think they also ruled routinely in favor of abortion rights, at least before Dobbs. The opinion recognizes the seriousness of the wrongs involved, including from City of Tulsa officials, many of whom we now know were members of the KKK. You won't find many, if any, gqp state policians even recognizing that the Massacre not only occurred but that it was fueled by racism (some still claim that the Black people deserved it for daring to question the arrest of the kid involved and trying to prevent him from being lynched at the courthouse).

I think only the U.S. Congress can provide the right mechanism to study and propose reparations for the wrongs committed against Black people for so long, and I really hope we get to a point someday that it happens. 

 

[TwiceHorn 31440]

40 minutes ago, 'stache said:

From a purely legal analysis, the court had no choice (the sole dissent was only in part and he didn't write an opinion so it's not clear where he disagreed). There's just no viable legal theory to make the City of Tulsa pay reparations through a nuisance claim. What I always found problematic is that the City of Tulsa is funded entirely by sales taxes (somewhat unusual) and any judgment would be paid from those sales taxes, which of course is one of the most regressive taxes that exists, and I just don't see how that works out equitably. It also wouldn't capture the subsequent waves of racism in this state and city that were far more devastating economically to the Black community over time. 

The court's last line in this paragraph has been my position. The wrongs from that era can, and should, be resolved through legislation and a broader funding mechanism. Every (or most) sessions of Congress has had introduced a bill to establish a commission to study reparations and issue proposals for reparations. It never gets a vote, because the majority in this country still lacks the will. I get wanting courts to intercede but there just isn't a legal basis for it at this point.The Tulsa Massacre was the worst, but only one of many in a span of several years, and that event in and of itself did not kill Greenwood, it actually came back stronger, until it was destroyed by Urban Renewal and the next wave of racist policies (i.e., redlining, etc.). 

And for the record, the Oklahoma Supreme Court is still relatively sane considering the redness of the other two branches, so there's no gqp fuckery going on with this decision. On the same day they issued this opinion it ruled unanimously against the state superintendent's crusade to force local school boards to ban books. They also upheld mask mandates in schools during the pandemic. I think they also ruled routinely in favor of abortion rights, at least before Dobbs. The opinion recognizes the seriousness of the wrongs involved, including from City of Tulsa officials, many of whom we now know were members of the KKK. You won't find many, if any, gqp state policians even recognizing that the Massacre not only occurred but that it was fueled by racism (some still claim that the Black people deserved it for daring to question the arrest of the kid involved and trying to prevent him from being lynched at the courthouse).

I think only the U.S. Congress can provide the right mechanism to study and propose reparations for the wrongs committed against Black people for so long, and I really hope we get to a point someday that it happens. 

 

Gagreed.  As badly as redress is needed, trying to get it in court 100 someodd years later just ain't it.

[hookemATL 11707]

3 hours ago, Pancho said:

 

WHEN WILL THE WHITES GET TV SHOWS WITH BIRDS!!!  This is a travashamockery!

 

/maga

[mdmost 43001]

3 hours ago, Pancho said:

 

In case anyone would like to hear more about Christian Cooper, he was featured in an episode of Fresh Air on NPR that came out last year.

https://www.npr.org/programs/fresh-air/2023/06/29/1185048791/fresh-air-for-june-29-2023-birder-christian-cooper

[atomheartbevo 89630]

 

I’ve posted some of these documents before, but Atun-Shei Films has pulled everything together in regard to all of the documents used to justify secession.  Hint: slavery kind of plays a little part in them.  You can listen to it as a podcast in the background, but he maps it out and has a lot of quotes on screen at times,

 

[WhatTheBuck 28775]

17 hours ago, Pancho said:

 

CBS Sunday Morning had a segment about him a couple months ago.

 

[SamsCorner 395]

15 hours ago, 'stache said:

 You won't find many, if any, gqp state policians even recognizing that the Massacre not only occurred but that it was fueled by racism (some still claim that the Black people deserved it for daring to question the arrest of the kid involved and trying to prevent him from being lynched at the courthouse).

 

 

Wow, really?  I'd be interested in knowing who those politicians are so I can work against them.  Got any quotes?

[Jive Turkey 12594]

 

[South Austin 52459]

Very fine Americans.

[Brisketexan 105083]

42 minutes ago, Jive Turkey said:

 

I gotta tell ya....even if you take out the political/racist intent...."White Boy Summer" sounds like the most boring fucking summer theme ever. 

"Oh yeah, Chad, we're gonna party, and party hard.  I know, man....your dad totally owns a dealership, and we're gonna get some high school girls totally wasted so we can rape them.  Sounds fucking AWESOME, BRO!"

[Pancho 44721]

 

 

 

[Pescado_Rojo 19416]

5 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

I gotta tell ya....even if you take out the political/racist intent...."White Boy Summer" sounds like the most boring fucking summer theme ever. 

"Oh yeah, Chad, we're gonna party, and party hard.  I know, man....your dad totally owns a dealership, and we're gonna get some high school girls totally wasted so we can rape them.  Sounds fucking AWESOME, BRO!"

It sounds like something that ends with a late night boating accident, a dead kid, and a team of lawyers trying to keep young Chad out of prison and eligible to run for congress in a few years. 

[Neonmoon 38129]

24 minutes ago, Pancho said:

We know it's a lie because if they were actual black patriots, they would have beat Charlie Kirk to death

[WhatTheBuck 28775]

34 minutes ago, Pancho said:

We know you can’t tell us, Charlie, because the number was zero.

[4th&Five 41519]

 

[atomheartbevo 89630]

1 hour ago, South Austin said:

Very fine Americans.

I love that they aren’t hiding it anymore and are telling us exactly who they are.  The commercials should be writing themselves, but regardless, they are helping to erase any doubt about the racism that is prevalent in the GQP these days, because no MAGA politicians will denounce them.

[Satchel 6935]

2 hours ago, Pancho said:

 

 

 

I can. Three, and they were paid to say that. 

[YGIFS 19449]

 

[Macanudo 12976]

I know a young man who went to Detroit this weekend to attend Nick Fuentes' counter programing to the TPUSA thing.  He's a piece of work and scares me.  Fortunately,  I know far more kids like mine who aren't Neo-Nazi psychos .

[Willfully Horn 8002]

1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

I know a young man who went to Detroit this weekend to attend Nick Fuentes' counter programing to the TPUSA thing.  He's a piece of work and scares me.  Fortunately,  I know far more kids like mine who aren't Neo-Nazi psychos .

Wife’s brother’s son was headed down that road a couple of years ago. Luckily, he responded real well to fentanyl rehab, and is working back of house in a Michigan restaurant.

[DixonHur 11296]

1 hour ago, Macanudo said:

I know a young man who went to Detroit this weekend to attend Nick Fuentes' counter programing to the TPUSA thing.  He's a piece of work and scares me.  Fortunately,  I know far more kids like mine who aren't Neo-Nazi psychos .

It would sad if said young man died in an unfortunate accident.  I hear the roads in @Macanudo's neighborhood can be dangerous.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33867]

18 hours ago, Willfully Horn said:

Wife’s brother’s son was headed down that road a couple of years ago. Luckily, he responded real well to fentanyl rehab, and is working back of house in a Michigan restaurant.

that's a weird way to say nephew

[DixonHur 11296]

5 minutes ago, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

that's a weird way to say nephew

He probably wanted us to know that he's not a blood relative.

[Longhorn_Fan68 33867]

I don't believe shittiness is transitive so I would not pin what your relatives do on you. Anywho, I see that point.

[Dnaguy 11921]

On 6/14/2024 at 1:50 AM, atomheartbevo said:

 

I’ve posted some of these documents before, but Atun-Shei Films has pulled everything together in regard to all of the documents used to justify secession.  Hint: slavery kind of plays a little part in them.  You can listen to it as a podcast in the background, but he maps it out and has a lot of quotes on screen at times,

 

 

The confederacy....

[InkaUtexas 25876]

sucks that the event happened, but a bit of hope.

In recent years, Lee has become known as the “Grandmother of Juneteenth” after spending years rallying people to join her in what became a successful push to make June 19 a national holiday. The former teacher and a counselor in the school district has been tirelessly involved in her hometown of Fort Worth for decades, work that’s included establishing a large community garden.

During the ceremony Friday, Myra Savage, board president of Trinity Habitat for Humanity, told Lee: “Thank you for being a living example of what your home represents today, which is community, restoration, hope and light.”

https://apnews.com/article/opal-lee-new-house-racist-mob-texas-549697c3f027e58d68c040d3a0387510

 

[Willfully Horn 8002]

On 6/18/2024 at 12:47 PM, Longhorn_Fan68 said:

that's a weird way to say nephew

My brothers both have sons. None are whackos. I make a distinction.

[UpperWestside 6161]

On 6/13/2024 at 1:31 PM, Pancho said:

 

I was able to listen to him speak in DC about three years ago. He’s exceptionally good at getting a message across. Just randomly ran across where he was speaking at. Awesome that he has done so well since his Karen incident.

[YGIFS 19449]

Yep, he's slamming and taking Emmy's.  She's trying to get a job as a teller at a soon to be defunct drive-thru branch of Capital One.  

[Satchel 6935]

Check out Realitybites’ entry on the Baylor board’s Juneteenth thread:

[wildcat09 29348]

Well that’s a word I was unfamiliar with.

[pacman 7355]

 

Strong testimony from Jackson

[4th&Five 41519]

 

['stache 21801]

18 minutes ago, 4th&Five said:

 

Remember, the red hats think that was when America was great and that we should go back.

[Poester 109]

I would give anything to go back to the 80’s. It fucking rocked. 

[Brisketexan 105083]

3 hours ago, pacman said:

 

Strong testimony from Jackson

Man, testimony like that is so fucking important.  For two reasons.

1 -- because goddammit, when the MAGA assholes talk about "Make America Great Again," and point to those windows of time, they are asking to go back to an America that called Reggie the N-word and wouldn't let him stay in their hotels, eat in their restaurants, etc.  Reggie's existence and path to prosperity was at risk due to the whims of racist SYSTEMS.  Fuck you, I don't want to have THAT America "again."  Ever.  Fuck you and burn in hell, you fucking assholes.  You want to go back to that?  I'd rather burn this whole fucking place down, starting with your fucking doublewide, before we do that "again."

2 -- note some really important characters in those stories: Reggie's managers and teammates, and their families.  They stood up for Reggie.  They said shit like "if you won't feed all of us, you won't feed ANY of us, we're leaving."  I know those sorts of stories because my hispanic family has told me those sorts of stories.  About traveling with their high school baseball team, and the local restaurant wouldn't let "the mexican" sit in the joint, so the team went down the street and picked up burgers to go from somewhere.  Because the team said "if you don't feed all of us, you don't feed any of us."  Of my great-uncle's time playing baseball for UT 90 years ago, when respected white athletes like Ernie Koy had his back, protected him from racist taunts and attacks, and made sure he always had a place to sleep and eat.

We're all in this together.  If we're worth a shit, even a milligram of shit, we should be pissed off that anyone was ever treated shitty like Reggie, in any way, and we should be pissed off to every extent that it still takes place today.  AND...we should stand and fight for our fellow Americans to be treated with the decency, dignity, and respect that we would expect for ourselves.

And yeah....it is now LITERALLY against the law for Reggie to tell that exact story in some schools, because it might hurt the fee-fees of some racist piece of shit.

If you want a country where people like Reggie and my uncle are treated in any way lesser because of their race, then fuck you and fuck your country.  YOUR country isn't worth a shit.  I say we build a country that says "fuck you" to you and your values, and we make it OUR country.  Listen to Reggie.  Act like Ernie Koy.  And never back down, never budge a fucking inch.  Because fuck every one of these MAGA assholes.

Edited June 21 by Brisketexan

[atomheartbevo 89630]

3 hours ago, 'stache said:

Remember, the red hats think that was when America was great and that we should go back.

Toss this into the mix

“I’m a middle-aged Black man. I’ve got all of these degrees, I’ve won cases at the Supreme Court – and I still go to places where I’m viewed as less than, where I’m presumed to be the defendant, or presumed to be dangerous, just because of the way I appear. And that’s a heavy burden,” says lawyer and racial justice advocate Bryan Stevenson. “I can tell you, because I’m getting older, that when you’re constantly navigating these presumptions of dangerousness and guilt, it’s exhausting.”

Edited June 21 by atomheartbevo

[Brisketexan 105083]

37 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Toss this into the mix

“I’m a middle-aged Black man. I’ve got all of these degrees, I’ve won cases at the Supreme Court – and I still go to places where I’m viewed as less than, where I’m presumed to be the defendant, or presumed to be dangerous, just because of the way I appear. And that’s a heavy burden,” says lawyer and racial justice advocate Bryan Stevenson. “I can tell you, because I’m getting older, that when you’re constantly navigating these presumptions of dangerousness and guilt, it’s exhausting.”

[MAGA] Has he tried not being black, and instead being a real American? [/MAGA]

[Longhorn_Fan68 33867]

44 minutes ago, atomheartbevo said:

Toss this into the mix

“I’m a middle-aged Black man. I’ve got all of these degrees, I’ve won cases at the Supreme Court – and I still go to places where I’m viewed as less than, where I’m presumed to be the defendant, or presumed to be dangerous, just because of the way I appear. And that’s a heavy burden,” says lawyer and racial justice advocate Bryan Stevenson. “I can tell you, because I’m getting older, that when you’re constantly navigating these presumptions of dangerousness and guilt, it’s exhausting.”

as a wypipo I don't take this for granted in the least. I've always resisted the sense of otherness that this country seems to have settled on. either we're a melting pot or we're not. I like to think that this great experiment was worth it and in the end good will prevail, but damn if there aren't a lot of people working against that. I'm grateful to the gentleman above for fighting the good fight. I cannot even fathom what a moment in that life is like. I hope I never have to. 

[tx 3 putt 76880]

 

[Jiggy-Z 3432]

17 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

 

Man. Illinois and Indiana lighting it up.  I guess the deep south had " other means".

[YGIFS 19449]

Yeah, once you get out of Chicagoland.  Other than Peoria, Springfield, and Urbana-Champaign (which is a slightly nicer version of College Station in that it's a communist looking planned university community).........most of Illinois gets real backwards, real quick.  Northern Indiana hit a hot streak from the 60's to the 90's, where white folks and people of color worked side-by-side and finally got along.  But once those manufacturing jobs dried up, they went back to their cornermen and shit got backwards all over again.  

I still roll my eyes at my home town of Chicago.  My high school experience was a real eye opener that I look back on with thankfulness.  Basically an E-W bar from SW Chicago to the medium-in Western Suburbs.  Kids of color that took the train onto campus to be put under a metal detector wand to working class kids to students who lived in splendor and drove cars nicer than my parents did.  It wasn't until after I moved to Texas that I heard Chicago referred to as the "Black Capital of America."  What almost all Americans don't realize is that yes, like your big cities, a lot of neighborhoods are just black, just brown, just Asian, etc.  What is unique about Chicago to this day is there are still a lot of intra-white and intra-Hispanic neighborhoods that are segregated.  It's just now starting to fade after 200 years.  But a "White Neighborhood" to the naked eye, is actually divided up amongst just Poles, just Swedes, just Germans, just Irish, just Italian.  The Hispanic neighborhoods are divided up into just Mexican, just Puerto Rican, just Central American, just Western South Americans, just Eastern South Americans, and then the myriad micro-hoods for Caribbean folks.  It is at once one of the most ethnically diverse cities the world has ever known.  And at the same time, more racially compartmentalized than any other city in the Western Hemisphere.  

To tie a long Lobo rant back to the thread topic (too late, I know).  We have all been to cities where people are educated and affluent and exposed to different cultures but remain racist.  We have all been to small towns where everybody looks the same and can't read or write their way out of a wet paper bag, but they were raised with kindness and acceptance because that was the only way to get thru their meager existence and they have no racist bone in their bodies.  

But who knows, if some of us were born in a different time and place with no education...would be the racist asshole who goes along with the mob?  We'll never know.  I am no better than anyone else, but I have some self-clarity.  I don't know what would happened if you dropped me in a different epoch or meridian.  All I do know is racism seems to be full of hate, and hate seems to take a lot of energy.  And I've noticed the older we get, the less energy we have.  Some choose to become more enlightened and loving, like yours shithead truly.  And others choose to expend that energy on more hatred.  

I'm just a mixed-race asshole with a modicum of education and self-reflection in middle age.  I am not an advocate, nor ally, nor even all that engaged.  We are simply all stuck here together on a rock hurtling through space around a dying star at 67,000 miles per hour.  Find people that make you happy, be kind to strangers, and do not visit cruelty upon the innocent.  All the racial shit doesn't really matter in the end.  I've held the hands of more dying people than I can count, not one 'em ever whispered to me, "I wish there were less dark people on my way out."  Maybe there's nothing down there.  No Syrian man speaking Aramaic, no bright light, no Buddha, no Hindi elephant, no Zeus, no Mohammed, no family members calling us home.  Maybe we just fade away as nature intended with all the other species.  Maybe we get to see into the core of the universe.  Maybe I was a racist asshole bigot in a past life.  Maybe "my African American over here" was a racist asshole himself.  All I know is, on my death-bed, in my most desperate and senile moment, my last thoughts won't be "I wish I had been even more White and mean."