JBHE: Race Relations Reporter




	The Race Relations Reporter is a weekly electronic bulletin of news, surveys, and a chronicle of race-related incidents of discrimination, hate crimes, and hate group activity from across the United States. This bulletin is sent to subscribers each week at their personal e-mail account address. Subscriptions are $24 for 52 weekly issues. See sample, below: THE RACE RELATIONS REPORTER Weekly Bulletin August 30, 2006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “The old textbooks featured white, suburban-looking kids. More diversity was a good idea. But they've bent over backwards in the other direction.” — Margery Cobb, an eighth-grade English teacher in Braintree, Massachusetts, commenting on new textbooks containing multiple images of blacks and other minority students, in The Wall Street Journal, 8-19-06 (See story below.) ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ NEWS OF THE WEEK ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * TEXTBOOK PUBLISHERS USE RACIAL QUOTAS FOR PHOTOGRAPHS AND GRAPHIC IMAGES TO HEIGHTEN SALES APPEAL: In an effort to make their products more appealing to state education boards, textbook publishers recommend racial and ethnic quotas for graphics and photographs in their books. According to an analysis in The Wall Street Journal, blacks are 15 percent of the K-12 school-age population in the United States. But both Harcourt Brace and McGraw Hill suggest to potential authors that more than 20 percent of all photographs of students in their books be African American. Some publishers will even tailor their textbooks to the racial and ethnic makeup of the particular state. One publisher reportedly had Hispanics in 35 percent of all photographs in a version of a social studies textbook marketed in California. Blacks were included in 7 percent of the images in the California edition. In the same textbook marketed to schools in North Carolina, Hispanics were in 6 percent of the images and photographs whereas blacks appeared in 22 percent. __________________________________________________________________ * LEGAL BATTLE CONTINUES OVER THE MICHIGAN CIVIL RIGHTS INITIATIVE: This November, voters in Michigan will be presented with a referendum which, if approved by a majority of the electorate, would ban the use of race in admissions decisions at the University of Michigan and other state-operated universities. Despite recent polls that show the referendum will go down to defeat, opponents of the measure continued their efforts to remove the referendum from the ballot. A suit was filed in federal court claiming that voters were tricked into signing petitions that were circulating in order to gain the initiative a place on the ballot. Witnesses have testified that they were told the initiative would help to preserve affirmative action or to “help black kids get into college.” A similar suit was thrown out of state court. The judge in the state court case ruled that, despite the anecdotal evidence from some witnesses that fraud had taken place, the plaintiffs failed to produce evidence that the fraud was so widespread it would invalidate enough signatures to keep the referendum off the ballot. This week a federal judge in Michigan ruled that despite evidence that fraud had taken place, he did not have jurisdiction to remove the measure from the ballot. __________________________________________________________________ * 1951 MURDER OF TWO CIVIL RIGHTS ACTIVISTS SOLVED: On Christmas night in 1951, civil rights activists Harry and Harriette Moore were murdered when a bomb tore apart their home in Mims, Florida. Until this time, the case has gone unsolved. But now Florida investigators have concluded that the Ku Klux Klan was responsible. Florida Attorney General Charlie Christ identified four Klan members who he said were responsible for the bombing. All four are now dead. __________________________________________________________________ * RACIAL SEGREGATION COMES TO REALITY TV: The hit television show Survivor has come up with a new twist for its new season beginning next month. The cast members of the popular reality series will be divided into four tribes: blacks, whites, Asians, and Latinos. Series host Jeff Probst said that the idea came about from complaints from viewers that the contestants on the show were not racially diverse. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ RECENT RACIAL INCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * ATHENS, OHIO: A black deputy sheriff in Athens, Ohio, claimed he was passed over for promotion because of his race. The deputy claimed that the sheriff had called him lazy, and he had witnesses who said the sheriff had used racial slurs. After the deputy filed a complaint with the Ohio Civil Rights Commission in the case, the county agreed to pay the deputy $90,000. The deputy will also be promoted to the rank of sergeant. (Columbus Dispatch, 8-15-06) __________________________________________________________________ * COLUMBIA, MISSOURI: A black substitute teacher in the Columbia, Missouri, school district has filed a federal lawsuit claiming that she was denied a position as a permanent teacher because of her race. The suit claims that the director of the school system made disparaging comments about her and other black teachers. (Columbia Daily Tribune, 8-17-06) __________________________________________________________________ * LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador Andrew Young resigned his position as head of an advocacy group established to smooth the way for Wal-Mart to build stores in minority neighborhoods after he made racially charged remarks to a reporter for the Los Angeles Sentinel. In an interview with the black-owned newspaper Young said, “The people who have been overcharging us, selling us stale bread, bad meat, and wilted vegetables, sold out and moved to Florida. I think they ripped off our communities enough. First it was the Jews, then it was the Koreans, and now it's the Arabs.” (Los Angeles Times, 8-18-06) __________________________________________________________________ * NORFOLK, VIRGINIA: A white campus police officer at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Virginia, claims that he was fired because of his race. A state hearing officer ordered that the university rehire the officer and give him back pay. The university is challenging the ruling. (Newport News Daily Press, 8-19-06) __________________________________________________________________ * HARPERS FERRY, WEST VIRGINIA: About 20 members of the Ku Klux Klan wearing black outfits with Nazi insignias showed up at a civil rights rally in Harpers Ferry, West Virginia. The Klan members did not disrupt the proceedings but were escorted out of the park by police officers. An eyewitness told RRR that many of the children and teenagers at the rally were frightened by the Klansmen. The event was a celebration of the 100th anniversary of the first meeting on American soil of the Niagara Movement. That meeting, held in Harpers Ferry, led to the establishment of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. (Associated Press, 8-20-06) __________________________________________________________________ * IRVINE, CALIFORNIA: Race-related graffiti was painted on a car in a gated community in Irvine, California. The car belongs to a black family that lives in the development. Racial graffiti was also found in 12 other locations in the development. (Orange County Register, 8-20-06) __________________________________________________________________ * DENISON, IOWA: Ku Klux Klan recruitment fliers were placed on car windshields in store parking lots in Denison and Storm Lake, Iowa. The fliers read, “Protect white pride. Protect Christian beliefs. Join KKK today.” (Des Moines Register, 8-23-06) __________________________________________________________________ * FREDERICK, MARYLAND: A white man pleaded guilty to assault and racial harassment in a road rage incident in Frederick, Maryland. The white man admitted to throwing bottles at the black man's car from the passenger seat of a car driven by his girlfriend. The white man used racial slurs and threatened the black man. (The Capital, 8-23-06) __________________________________________________________________ * TAYLORSVILLE, MARYLAND: A racial slur was painted on an election campaign sign near Taylorsville, Maryland. The sign was advocating the reelection bid of the county's first African-American commissioner. (The Baltimore Sun, 8-23-06) __________________________________________________________________ * BALTIMORE, MARYLAND: A racist e-mail was circulated among several officers of the Baltimore Police Department. The four-paragraph document told a joke of a conversation between God and Satan about “Negroes causing problems in heaven.” It includes a statement by God that archangel Gabriel was complaining about all the watermelon seeds in heaven. (Associated Press, 8-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * SEA ISLE CITY, NEW JERSEY: An African-American off-duty police officer was beaten with a baseball bat in a racially motivated attack in Sea Isle City, New Jersey. Police reports say that three white men followed the black officer out of a bar and began yelling racial slurs and threats. They then allegedly attacked the black man from behind with the bat. The black officer suffered a concussion. (Philadelphia Inquirer, 8-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * AUBREY, TEXAS: In answering a question about which holidays his players would not be required to practice, a high school football coach in Aubrey, Texas, is alleged to have answered “Martin Luther Coon Day.” (Dallas Morning News, 8-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * SCHAUMBURG, ILLINOIS: Racist graffiti was found spray-painted on the side of a truck in Schaumburg, Illinois. Police believe that the racist message was meant for neighborhood residents, not the driver of the truck. (Chicago Daily Herald, 8-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * COTTAGEVILLE, WEST VIRGINIA: A black man in Cottageville, West Virginia, had a racial slur painted on the side of his home. Vandals also set fire to four vehicles parked outside his home. The man said that he had a racial confrontation at a gas station three weeks earlier. On that occasion two white men told him, “Go home, nigger.” This was the same slogan that was later painted on the side of his home. (Charleston Daily Mail, 8-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * COUSHATTA, LOUISIANA: A white school bus driver in Coushatta, Louisiana, ordered nine black students to sit in the back of the bus and reserved front-row seats for white children. The bus driver was suspended pending an investigation. A black bus driver from another route was assigned to pick up the nine black children. (Shreveport Times, 8-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * MIAMI SHORES, FLORIDA: A Haitian woman has filed a race discrimination complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission against a private school in Miami Shores, Florida. The woman claims that she and other Haitian workers were fired and told by a supervisor, “I don't want to deal with these fucking Haitians. It's time to leave. All of you are out.” (Miami Herald, 8-25-06) __________________________________________________________________ * OMAHA, NEBRASKA: A white state trooper in Nebraska was fired because he is a member of the Ku Klux Klan. The state claimed that he was fired because he could not “uphold public trust” while he was a member of the KKK. But a state arbitrator ordered that the trooper be reinstated to his position and receive back pay. The state vowed to pursue the matter through the courts. (Associated Press, 8-26-06) __________________________________________________________________ * TRACKING HATE CRIMES: For week of August 20-26, the term “hate crime” appeared in the nation's major newspapers and magazines 253 times. This is more than the 227 mentions of the term in the prior week. So far this year, there have been 9,400 mentions of hate crime in the press. This is more than the 8,153 mentions of hate crime from January 1 to August 26, 2005. __________________________________________________________________ To contact The Race Relations Reporter, e-mail us at RRR@jbhe.com or call (212) 399-1084. __________________________________________________________________ © 2006 The Race Relations Reporter All rights reserved. Past Race Relations Reporter • June 2006 • March 2006