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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 November 29, 2006 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ * QUOTE OF THE WEEK: “Throughout my life I have enjoyed both the blessing and the burden of being the first black this and the first black that, and, like many minorities and women who succeed, I’ve often felt alone." — Gerald M. Boyd, former managing editor of The New York Times, who died on Thanksgiving Day from lung cancer. He was 56 years old. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ NEWS OF THE WEEK ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * SLIGHT WIDENING IN RACIAL GAP IN BIRTHS TO UNWED MOTHERS: A new study from the National Center of Health Statistics reports that in 2005, 15.7 of every 1,000 black women ages 15 to 44 gave birth that year. For whites, the figure was 11.5 per 1,000 women. This so-called fertility rate dropped for both blacks and whites from the year before. The report also noted that 25.4 percent of all births by white women were to unmarried mothers. This was a slight drop from a year before. For blacks, 69.5 percent of all births were to unmarried women. This was a slight increase from a year ago. __________________________________________________________________ * STUDY FINDS RACIAL DISPARITY IN PANCREATIC CANCER TREATMENT: A new study in the American Journal of Surgery finds a large racial disparity in the treatment of black and white patients with pancreatic cancer. The study of more than 2,200 cancer patients in Alabama found that black patients were less likely than white patients to receive chemotherapy treatment and were less likely to undergo surgery. Both treatments have been shown to increase survival times. The study also documented that black patients were more likely than white patients to refuse treatment. But the refusal rates were not sufficient to explain the overall racial disparity in treatment. __________________________________________________________________ * LONG ISLAND TOWN SWEARS IN FIRST BLACK POLICE OFFICERS IN NEARLY FOUR DECADES: The town of Long Beach, New York, on Long Island is about 7 percent black. As of November 1, there were 75 officers on the town’s police force. None was black. In fact, the town had not sworn in a black police officer since 1968. On November 15, two African Americans, both former members of the New York City police department, were among the four new officers sworn in at City Hall in Long Beach. __________________________________________________________________ * PACKAGED GOODS MARKETING TO BLACKS IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY: African Americans are about 13 percent of the U.S. population but they reportedly buy 36 percent of all cornbread and corn muffin mix sold in this country. As a result, General Mills’ Betty Crocker brand corn mix, which has traditionally trailed market leader Jiffy by a large margin, decided to reposition its product to appeal to African-American customers. But instead of putting Aunt Jemima on the packaging, General Mills reached an agreement with restaurateur B. Smith to appear on its packaging. Smith is regarded in many circles as the black Martha Stewart, and her persona is highly respected among African-American women. __________________________________________________________________ * ATLANTA POLICE SHOOT AND KILL 92-YEAR-OLD BLACK WOMAN: Police in Atlanta, who were conducting a drug investigation, broke down the door of a home where they believed a suspect was hiding. Upon entering the house, three policemen were shot. Officers returned fire and killed a 92-year-old black woman. The woman lived in the house for the past 17 years and was the only person in the home at the time of the incident. ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ RECENT RACIAL INCIDENTS IN THE UNITED STATES ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ * EDINBORO, PENNSYLVANIA: A black student at Edinboro University in Pennsylvania gained access to another student’s e-mail account. He used this account to send a racist and threatening message to 20 other black students on campus. The student was arrested and charged with unlawful use of a computer and making terrorist threats. (Centre Daily Times, 11-16-06) __________________________________________________________________ * WEST HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA: Michael Richards, a comedian best known for his role as Kramer on the television show Seinfeld, unleashed a tirade of racist comments during a performance at a comedy club in West Hollywood, California. When Richards was heckled by some African-American customers, he yelled at them and called them “nigger” on several occasions. He then told the hecklers, “Fifty years ago we would have hung you upside down with a fucking fork up your ass.” (Associated Press, 11-20-06) __________________________________________________________________ * ANN ARBOR, MICHIGAN: A black student at the University of Michigan Business School posted a message on his Web page at Facebook.com urging viewers to vote no on Proposal 2. The ballot initiative, which was approved by voters, calls for an end to race-sensitive admissions at the University of Michigan. A visitor to the site posted the following comment, “No on 2, eh? I’m a woman and I say YES on 2! You must be a nigger.” (Michigan Daily, 11-17-06) __________________________________________________________________ * WATERLOO, IOWA: Racist fliers were placed on car windshields in the downtown area of Waterloo, Iowa. The fliers had demeaning language about blacks and other minority groups. The fliers also contained several statements about white supremacy. (Waterloo Courier, 11-17-06) __________________________________________________________________ * CINCINNATI, OHIO: The International Socialist Organization, a student group on the campus of the University of Cincinnati, says that racist slogans and swastikas were written on its posters denouncing racism and the death penalty. The graffiti included the slogans, “White Power” and “Bring Back Hitler.” (Cincinnati Enquirer, 11-18-06) __________________________________________________________________ * SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA: Ngugi wa Thiong’o, the award-winning Kenyan novelist, was staying at the Hotel Vitale in San Francisco while on a tour to promote his latest book. An employee of the hotel ordered the author out of the hotel lounge saying that the area was reserved for guests of the hotel. The hotel suspended the employee and offered Thiong’o free food and accommodations, but the author decided to leave and stay at a different hotel. (Africa News, 11-19-06) __________________________________________________________________ * DAVIS, CALIFORNIA: When Milmon Harrison collected the midterm examinations for his African-American Culture and Society class at the University of California at Davis, he found that there was one extra examination. Someone who was not part of the class had taken the one-hour-20-minute midterm. The essays on the examination were filled with antiblack statements and racist comments. There was no name written on the examination booklet. (The California Aggie, 11-21-06) __________________________________________________________________ * ROCHESTER, MINNESOTA: A racial slur was scratched into the finish of a car parked at University Center Rochester in Minnesota. The car belonged to a black woman. University Center Rochester is a partnership between Rochester Community and Technical College, Winona State University, Rochester, and the University of Minnesota at Rochester. (Rochester Post-Bulletin, 11-21-06) __________________________________________________________________ * CARSON, CALIFORNIA: The school newspaper at the high school in Carson, California, was not distributed when school officials saw that an anonymous editorial accused some black students as acting like “a pack of monkeys.” The editorial was written by someone who had gone to a Taco Bell restaurant close to campus. In describing the patrons, a majority of whom are black, the writer says, “When I go to Taco Bell, I want to go to a restaurant, not a zoo! Stop acting like animals.” (Los Angeles Times, 11-23-06) __________________________________________________________________ * MONROE, CONNECTICUT: A black family has filed a $1 million lawsuit against school officials in Monroe, Connecticut. The suit claims that an 8-year-old black student was disciplined more harshly than white students for a similar offense. The suit also claims that school officials did nothing to protect the youngster even though his parents had reported that he had been bullied and taunted with racial slurs. (Connecticut Post, 11-23-06) __________________________________________________________________ * LONG BEACH, CALIFORNIA: Eight black youths in Long Beach, California, were charged with hate crime violations and felony assault for an attack on three white women. The attack occurred at a block party. The white women claim that they were called racial slurs and then attacked by the black youths. One youth reportedly yelled, “I hate whites” during the fracas. (Associated Press, 11-23-06) __________________________________________________________________ * RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA: Racist fliers from the Ku Klux Klan were distributed in Raleigh, North Carolina, on Thanksgiving Day. The fliers were wrapped in old copies of the local daily newspaper and thrown onto front lawns in several neighborhoods. (Raleigh News & Observer, 11-24-06) __________________________________________________________________ * TRACKING HATE CRIMES: For week November 19-25, the term “hate crime” appeared in the nation’s major newspapers and magazines 208 times. This is less than the 259 mentions of the term in the prior week. So far this year, there have been 13,100 mentions of hate crime in the press. This is more than the 10,688 mentions of hate crime from January 1 to November 25, 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
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