Racial Justice

In August 2017, a group of white nationalists planned the Unite the Right rally through a website called Discord. Similarly to Gab — the website used by the man who murdered 11 innocent people at the Tree of Life synagogue to spread racist and bigoted ideologies — Discord is a relatively private chat platform often used by Nazi and white supremacist groups to chat and recruit white nationalists. After the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville, Discord purged many users who were involved — but it is seemingly still a problem, and one that is largely unmonitored. A recent report by Slate showed over 20 communities on the site that are directly about Nazism and white supremacy. After they were reported, none were seemingly removed. PayPal recently announced that it is cutting ties with Gab because, in their words, “when a site is explicitly allowing the perpetuation of hate, violence or discriminatory violence, we take immediate and decisive action.” So why hasn’t PayPal cut ties with Discord? Discord and other websites like it are often used by white supremacist groups because of the fact that they don’t monitor their platforms for violent, anti-semitic, or bigoted language, unlike Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube. If PayPal is truly against perpetuating hatred and isn’t just worried about their public image, they would cut ties with all companies whose unmonitored platforms are a safe harbor for hate speech. That includes Discord.  

Voting Laws were changed in North Dakota to disenfranchise Native Voters. TELL The Secretary of State of North Dakota that TRIBAL IDs MUST be accepted for VOTING. The Secretary refuses to affirm that they will accept new Tribal Letters and IDs as proof of residency for Native People to vote in the upcoming election. "A coalition of Native Tribes in North Dakota stand against North Dakota's suppressive voter ID law.' The Tribes' press release states: "To combat the disenfranchisement of our members, we intend to ensure our members that lack residential street addresses can obtain them so they may exercise their right to vote." ..."tribes are now able to issue tribal documents that contain the voter's name, birth date, and current residential street address in North Dakota. We intend to issue these documents at polling locations within the bounds of our reservations on Election Day."    

I didn’t realize that children associated blackface with people of color until my, then, nearly 3 year old did it.  She pointed at a black man in the bus and shouted “Zwarte Piet, Zwarte Piet!”  During her time at kindergarten,  my child had learnt to associate black people with a sort of clown . This is racism- and happened because kindergartens, schools and children's television in the Netherlands promote a specific racist caricature as part of their annual national tradition: Sinterklaas.  This has got to stop! Zwarte Piets, or Black Petes, are characters in a children’s television show, played by people in blackface wearing Afro wigs.  The Black Petes are portrayed as child-like, silly people, who belong a wise, old, white boss. Working for the wise, old, white boss is their only real reason for being, and the wise, old, white boss gives them the guidance they need. That associations are made between these subservient buffoons and regular people, merely based on having a dark skin color and Afro hair, is alarming.  This Dutch tradition is even more offensive because the Black Petes wear clothing resembling the uniforms of enslaved 17th century Africans.  There are many paintings featuring enslaved Africans of that era, which confirm this. Every year children and adults of color, especially people of African descent, endure ridicule connected to Black Pete.  It is a humiliating affront to their dignity.  People literally dread the weeks leading up to 5th of December, because the racist caricatures are to be seen everywhere. The daily children’s television series which is central in showcasing the Black Petes, is called: Het Sinterklaasjournaal.   The vast majority of elementary schools in the Netherlands air the television series to their pupils. The NTR television company,  which makes the blackface series, also generate income by selling lesson material to elementary schools. The Dutch government continue to subsidize this racist, yet popular children’s television series despite various human rights reports recommending the removal of discriminatory elements in Black Petes appearance.   The Dutch children’s ombudswoman also recently included the aforementioned advice in her position on the subject.  Despite this, blackfacing in schools and in the media, including an annual minstrel show: Het Sinterklaasfeest, is also subsidized by the Dutch government. People should be treated with dignity and respect, regardless of the colour of their skin.  Blackfacing in schools and in the media is supported by government subsidy, and is a form of institutionalized racism.  Tell the Dutch government to stop subsidizing blackface.

At least 581 people have been lynched in the state of Mississippi throughout U.S. history, the vast majority of whom were hung because of one thing: they were black. This history is troubling enough, but it’s even more so when you see Mississippi’s junior Senator, Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith, making a joke this month at a political fundraiser where she laughs about how if one of her donors invited her, “she’d attend a public hanging.” The comment drew sharp responses from voters on the left and the right, noting that Sen. Hyde-Smith’s opponent is an African American. But Sen. Hyde-Smith has yet to apologize. This kind of language would be unacceptable in so many places around the country. But not yet in Mississippi, my home state, where one of the most violent and destructive symbols in all of American history -- the Confederate emblem -- still adorns our state flag. It’s time to say enough is enough. Join me in calling on Mississippi to remove the Confederate symbol from its state flag. Over the last few years we’ve seen so many communities come to terms with the racist and shameful legacy of the Confederacy, and pull their support of this symbol which for so many people represents the violence and hatred that led to hundreds of “public hangings” all around the South. South Carolina’s government stopped displaying the Confederate symbol; cities around Mississippi, including tourism-friendly places like Biloxi, have also stopped flying our state flag because it bears the Confederate emblem. Even a judge in Mississippi over the last month removed the Mississippi State Flag from his courtroom because he felt the Confederate symbol sent the message that not everyone was welcome or equal in his court. The Confederate symbol in our state flag is a dying, hate-filled relic, and it’s time for a change. Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith’s comments are appalling and show a complete lack of understanding at the race-based violence so many people in Mississippi have faced for the last 150 years. But her comments are just a symptom of a larger issue in our state that stems directly from the tolerance, acceptance and celebration of the Confederate symbol in our state flag. A symbol that for so many years has been championed by those who want to hurt, minimize, humiliate, and enslave an entire population of people. I'm proud to call Mississippi my home state, but I know that it not only can do better -- it needs to do better. Now is the moment to show Mississippi and the rest of the country that hateful symbols have no place in our politics. Let’s send a message now to Mississippi lawmakers that the historic emblem that normalizes so much violence toward people has no place in our State Flag. Join me in calling on Mississippi lawmakers to remove the Confederate symbol from our flag.