Tag: racist

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U.S. House Votes 240-197 To Condemn Trump Twitter Attack On 4 Congresswomen As ‘Racist’

The New York Times reports that the House voted today 240-187 to condemn Donald Trump’s attacks on four progressive Democratic congresswomen as ‘racist.’

The House voted on Tuesday to condemn as racist President Trump’s attacks against four congresswomen of color, but only after the debate over the president’s language devolved into a bitterly partisan brawl that showcased deep rifts over race, ethnicity and political ideology in the age of Trump.

The measure passed nearly along party lines, 240-187, following one of the most polarizing exchanges on the House floor in recent memory. Only four Republicans and the House’s lone independent, Representative Justin Amash of Michigan, voted with all Democrats to condemn Mr. Trump.

“I know racism when I see it, I know racism when I feel it, and at the highest level of government, there’s no room for racism,” thundered Representative John Lewis, Democrat of Georgia, an icon of the civil rights movement who was nearly beaten to death in Alabama in 1965.

House Republicans, of course, defended the current occupant of the Oval Office.

Just four Republicans voted with the Democrats — Reps. Will Hurd (Tex.), Brian Fitzpatrick (Pa.), Susan Brooks (Ind.) and Fred Upton (Mich.). Rep. Justin Amash (Mich.), who quit the GOP earlier this month and now identifies as Independent, also voted for it.

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Trump’s Racist Twitter Rant To Dem Congresswomen: Go Back And Fix Crime Infested Places You Came From

Donald Trump began his Sunday with a hideously racist series of tweets aimed at some Democrat congresswomen from countries “whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”
Donald Trump

Donald Trump began his Sunday with a hideously racist series of tweets aimed at some progressive Democrat congresswomen from countries “whose governments are a complete and total catastrophe” should “go back and help fix the totally broken and crime infested places from which they came.”

The Donald doesn’t name exactly who he’s addressing, but the tweets follow attacks on Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Ilhan Omar (both women of color) saying he “doesn’t even know where they came from.”

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Harvard Rescinds Acceptance Of Parkland Shooting Survivor After Racial Slurs Come To Light

Guns rights advocate Kyle Kashuv

Kyle Kashuv, a survivor of the Parkland school shooting, has had his acceptance to Harvard University rescinded after several racial comments posted on social media came to light.

Mediaite reports the messages, which featured several uses of the n-word, prompted Kashuv to apologize last month.

“I want to address this with honesty and transparency,” wrote Kashuv regarding his racist remarks, which he noted was “long before” the February 2017 massacre. “We were 16-year-olds making idiotic comments, using callous and inflammatory language in an effort to be as extreme and shocking as possible. I’m embarrassed by it, but I want to be clear that the comments I made are not indicative of who I am or who I’ve become in the years since.”

But in a letter Kashuv shared on Twitter, Harvard informed the student his admission was being withdrawn.

“[The Admissions Committee] takes seriously the qualities of maturity and moral character. After careful consideration, the Committee voted to rescind your admission to Harvard,” wrote Harvard. “We are sorry about the circumstances that have led us to withdraw your admissions, and we wish you success in your future academic endeavors and beyond.”

Kashuv took to Twitter to lament his situation.

Kashuv goes on to say he gave up “huge scholarships in order to go to Harvard, and the deadline for accepting other college offers has ended.”

He adds he is currently “exploring all options at the moment.”

You’ll note Kashuv doesn’t share the offending comments. He says they occurred “years ago” when he was sixteen.

I’m not sure a teenager suddenly ‘evolved’ on the issue of racial slurs in two years. Maybe, but, maybe not.

After 17 people were gunned down at his school, Marjory Stoneman Douglas High in Parkland, Florida, Kashuv gained a substantial social media following after appearing on several news outlets (CBS News, Fox News) to advocate for civilian gun use and against gun control laws.

He also traveled to the White House to meet with Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump.

Conservatives on Twitter are complaining that comments Kashuv made “when he was a kid” (they were two years ago) shouldn’t be held against him.

Twitter users posted examples of Kashuv’s “callous comments:”

(h/t JoeMyGod)

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Video: Hotel Clerk’s Reaction To Being Called The N-Word Goes Viral

A hotel clerk has gone viral after posting a video clip showing him refusing to rent a room to an apparently racist customer.

A hotel clerk has gone viral after posting a video clip showing him refusing to rent a room to an apparently racist customer.

In the video, the unidentified Black man politely rejects an unseen woman’s pleas to stay at the hotel over and over again as he references an earlier phone call with her where the woman had called him an ugly racial slur.

Woman: “I need to stay here, my mother died.”

Clerk: “I understand that but you called me a f**king n*gg*r.”

Woman: “I’m sorry.”

Clerk: “But you weren’t sorry when you said it on the phone. At the end of the day, in the climate we live in today’s society…”

Woman: “I’m sorry.”

Clerk: “I understand that but it’s above me now.”

Woman: “I need a room tonight.”

Clerk: “Well, there’s the Best Western next door.”

Woman: “Please, I’ve had a horrible day today.”

Clerk: “And I had a horrible time hearing that.”

At one point in the short video, the woman’s daughter enters the lobby and asks why her mother isn’t allowed to stay. When the clerk explains that he’d been called the n-word, the daughter glosses over the issue saying, “My grandma just died.”

As if a dying grandma justifies using such hideous language? The daughter doesn’t even apologize for her mother’s behavior.

She might as well have said, “My mother is upset and forgot to not be a racist bigot in public.”

It’s interesting that they still wanted to be accommodated after such hideous behavior.

Watch the minute-long clip below. Warning – the video contains an ugly racial slur repeated many times.

Of course, in this day and age, social media is having a field day as #ItsAboveMeNow and ‘Best Western’ are now trending on Twitter.

The Twitterverse is applauding the young man for holding her accountable as he kills her with his kind, warm tone.

*******************************************

UPDATE: It’s come to my attention that while social media is cheering the hotel clerk (identified by BuzzFeed as Craig Brooks in Austin, Texas) for his calm handling of the “case of the unwanted guest,” it seems he’s also quite transphobic.

Twitter-user Allan Brocka did a deep dive and found that in addition to being gay, Mr. Brooks has tweeted several anti-trans sentiments in the not-distant past.

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Teacher Fired For Reporting Homophobic/Racist Flyers At School

During the last week of March, homophobic and racist flyers began to appear throughout the hallways of McCormick Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming. Even worse, the teacher who reported the flyers was FIRED for bringing attention to them. “It’s great to be straight. It’s not OK to be gay. Black lives matter only because if it weren’t for them who would pick our cotton. Join the kkk.”
(image via Twitter)

During the last week of March, homophobic and racist flyers began to appear throughout the hallways of McCormick Junior High School in Cheyenne, Wyoming.

According to the Wyoming Tribune Eagle, the flyers read, “It’s great to be straight. It’s not OK to be gay. Black lives matter only because if it weren’t for them who would pick our cotton.”

“Join the kkk,” concluded the message, which seemed to be signed by “the confederate kid club.”

#hideous

When the flyers were brought to the attention of Kaycee Cook, a substitute teacher and co-sponsor of the school’s gay/straight alliance, she contacted Wyoming Equality. The advocacy group works to protect LGBTQ people in the state.

The executive director for Wyoming Equality, Sara Burlingame, told the press that she had heard about the flyers from several members of the community.

“This is unacceptable,” she said in a statement to Queerty. “It does not reflect the values of Cheyenne. We’re not going tolerate this. And we’re going to show up and support our LGBT youth and our black youth with unwavering pride and support.”

Even the mayor of Cheyenne, Marian Orr, got wind of the flyers and tweeted her support to Cheyenne youth writing, “Tonight, my heart is the heaviest it’s been since taking office. This is not right. To the youth in our community: You are loved. You are valued. We need you to take us forward. You are Cheyenne.”

When the Wyoming Tribune Eagle contacted Principal Jeff Conine about the flyers, he seemed to downplay the issue saying there were only two flyers found and that they were removed before the school day began.

But others, including Kaycee Cook, told the Eagle that the flyers were “all over the school.”

In fact, anti-LGBTQ bullying has been reported for weeks at the school with little done to tamp down the hate.

Some students say they stopped going to the school’s GSA meetings because a group of boys began verbally harassing and bullying the members of the group.

One student who preferred to remain anonymous said the boys openly called themselves racists and homophobes.

There are even reports of teachers calling same-sex students holding hands “disgusting.”

Cook says she’s taken the issue to supervisors for weeks without any results.

Here’s where it really gets messed up, though.

On March 27, Cook received an email from Principal Conine firing her.

(image via Wyoming News)

“I am notifying you that due to incidents that have occurred at McCormick you are no longer welcome as a guest or a substitute teacher in our building,” read the email.

Cook told the press she believes Conine’s actions were in retaliation for contacting Wyoming Equality.

The Laramie County School District 1 issued a statement about the debacle, which read:

“In the midst of an investigation regarding inappropriate flyers that were posted at McCormick Junior High yesterday, (LCSD1) is offering support to our LGBTQ and black students who were reportedly targeted through the incident.”

When contacted by the Eagle, Principal Conine told reporters he wasn’t prepared to make a statement about the email.

Since last week, at least one of the student’s responsible for the hateful flyers has been identified. LCSD1 Superintendent Boyd Brown told Wyoming News that the student would be “disciplined in line with district policy.”

Additionally, it looks like Cook’s dismissal will be reversed and she should be reinstated at the school soon.

What a debacle.

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Jussie Smollett Speaks Out At First Public Appearance: “I Fought The F*ck Back”

Almost a week after Empire star Jussie Smollett was assaulted in Chicago by two men who used homophobic, racist slurs during the attack, the actor & singer showed up for his already scheduled concert at The Troubadour in Los Angeles last night.
Jussie Smollett (image via screen capture)

Almost a week after Empire star Jussie Smollett was assaulted in Chicago by two men who used homophobic, racist slurs during the attack, the actor & singer showed up for his already scheduled concert at The Troubadour in Los Angeles last night.

As he took to the stage, his first public appearance since the attack, he told the crowd, “I had to be here tonight, y’all. I can’t let the motherf—ers win,” according to Variety.

“I have so many words on my heart,” Smollett told the sold-out crowd. “The most important thing I have to say is thank you so much and that I’m okay. I’m not fully healed yet, but I’m going to. And I’m gonna stand strong with y’all… l will always stand for love. I will never stand for anything other than that. Regardless of what anyone else says, I will only stand for love. And I hope that you all will stand with me. So now… let’s do it.”

Variety notes that the concert was sold-out before the attack in Chicago.

With a setlist that included songs like, “Freedom,” Conqueror,” and “Hurt People,” Smollett reportedly fought back tears as the evening took on a message of defiance and strength.

Near the end of the concert, the singer called out to two artists in attendance – out actor Wilson Cruz (Star Trek: Discovery) and Empire creator Lee Daniels: “I promised myself I was not gonna cry tonight. Someone in the crowd that I want to recognize: Wilson Cruz is someone I identified with growing up. I stand on the backs of so many people — of the Lee Daniels and the Wilson Cruz’s — and I pray to God I make you all proud.”

Before his final encore, he said there were a few points of fact that he wanted to clear up regarding reports of the attack.

“I was bruised but my ribs were not cracked; they were not broken,” he began. “I went to the doctor immediately – I was not hospitalized. Both my doctors in L.A. and Chicago cleared me to perform, but said to take care, obviously. And above all: I fought the f— back.”

And the crowd goes wild!

After the roar subsided, he finished the moment by joking, “I’m the gay Tupac! So now, we can do our encore.”

As he exited the stage, Smollett announced, “We are proud. We are gay.”

Wilson Cruz acknowledged Smollett on his Instagram.

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Virginia Governor Apologizes For Racist Photo, Then Claims It’s Not Him

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam addresses blackface scandal

High profile Democrats are calling for their colleague, Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam, to step down after photos from his 1984 medical school yearbook appear to show him dressing up in racist costumes.

The Virginian-Pilot obtained a photo of his yearbook page showing what appears to be men in either blackface or a Ku Klux Klan uniform, although it wasn’t clear which person was the future governor.

Initially, Northam issued an apology:

“I am deeply sorry for the decision I made to appear as I did in this photo and for the hurt that decision caused then and now,” Northam said. “This behavior is not in keeping with who I am today and the values I have fought for throughout my career in the military, in medicine and in public service. But I want to be clear, I understand how this decision shakes Virginians’ faith in that commitment. I recognize that it will take time and serious effort to heal the damage this conduct has caused. I am ready to do that important work. The first step is to offer my sincerest apology and to state my absolute commitment to living up to the expectations Virginians set for me when they elected me to be their governor.”

And that was followed by a video where he again asked for forgiveness but promised to serve out his term as governor which ends in 2022.

But this morning, Northam is reversing saying it isn’t him in the photo.

According to today’s Virginian-Pilot, he called state Sen. Louise Lucas to say, “I”m not going to resign because it’s not me in the photo.”

Her response – “Then you waited too long to say it wasn’t you.”

“He should have said that yesterday then,” Lucas told The Washington Post. “He just told me he didn’t think it’s him. And I said, ‘Ralph, this is a day late and a dollar short. It’s too late.’”

Virginia Democrats have asked the governor to step down as well as former Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe.

Former HUD Secretary Julián Castro was the first 2020 Democratic presidential candidate to call on Northam to resign, followed by Cory Booker, Kamala Harris, Elizabeth Warren, and Kirsten Gillibrand.

Democratic New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy also called on Northam to resign.

Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax would become governor should Northam step down.

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Rep. Steve King Loses House Committee Assignments Over ‘White Supremacy’ Comments

Rep. Steve King of Iowa

Rep. Steve King of Iowa (R) has lost his House committee assignments as a result of his recent comments about

From The New York Times:

House Republican leaders removed Representative Steve King of Iowa from the Judiciary and Agriculture Committees on Monday night as party officials scrambled to appear tough on racism and contain damage from comments Mr. King made to The New York Times questioning why white supremacy is considered offensive.

The punishment came on a day when Mr. King was denounced by an array of Republican leaders, though not President Trump. The Senate majority leader, Mitch McConnell, suggested Mr. King find “another line of work” and Senator Mitt Romney said he should quit. And the House Republicans, in an attempt to be proactive, stripped him of the committee seats in the face of multiple Democratic resolutions to censure Mr. King that are being introduced this week.

Those measures would force Republicans to take a stand on the House Democratic majority’s attempt to publicly reprimand one of their own.

Mr. King, who has been an ally of President Trump on the border wall and other issues, has a long history of making racist remarks and insults about immigrants, but has not drawn rebukes from Republican leaders until recently.

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But What About ‘The Invasion???”

Donald Trump

Remember when Donald Trump was furiously telling everyone he could about the ‘dangerous’ caravan of migrants heading towards the United States from Central America?

Remember it was a terrible ‘invasion’ about to happen?

Well, now that the midterm elections are over, and the Trumpster has pushed all those xenophobic buttons he could for his followers, we’re not hearing so much any more, are we?

CNN’s Jake Tapper tweeted today that he’s spoken to senior administration officials who admit the entire episode was ‘a paper tiger’ and ‘a total joke.’

NBC News also reports that military officials acknowledge the stunt was a racist, ‘political ploy.’

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Gay High School Student Explains Why He Didn’t Pose With Nazi Salute

High school senior Jordan Blue

Yesterday, I reported on the prom photo that went viral from Baraboo school district in Wisconsin.

The photo showed about 30 male members of the Baraboo High School Class of 2019 giving the Nazi salute before their junior prom last spring.

As I noted yesterday, one student was not having the moment.

Today, CBS This Morning spoke with the student, Jordan Blue.

Blue tells CBS News the photographer came up with the idea of telling the boys to “wave goodbye to their parents,” but didn’t specifically tell the boys to “raise your hand in a Nazi symbol way.”

But it’s telling that ‘raise you hand’ to these young men meant doing so in Nazi fashion.

Blue added that he felt his classmates did understand what the symbol represented, and that the moment was “scary” and “uncomfortable.”

Photographer Peter Gust has issued a statement which reads, “I didn’t tell them to salute anything… it was waving goodbye to their parents, having a good time.”

“There was nothing that diminished the quality of anyone’s life,” said Gust in defense of the photo. “There was nothing that diminished anyone’s stature in society, there was nothing that was intended to point a finger at anyone in their class who may have some kind of difference. There was none of that.”

When asked why he didn’t participate, Blue tells CBS This Morning, “It did not represent my morals and I could not do something that I didn’t believe in.”

Blue admits making the gesture makes no sense to him, saying, “Some of these people have bright futures ahead of them, so why’d they do it?”

Speaking to CNN, Blue says if he’d known the direction the photo opp would go, he wouldn’t have taken part in the pics at all.

He also says that while the community is a ‘phenomenal’ place to live, people are “hurt and very distraught” over the scandal. And he makes a point to say the photo doesn’t represent Baraboo as a whole.

Blue, who came out as gay earlier this year on social media, shared with Vice reporter Jules Suzdaltsev yesterday that he’s been the target of bullying by these boys since middle school.

Suzdaltsev later tweeted that, after receiving more than 100 messages from students and parents from Baraboo High School, “nearly all of the stories echo the same basic theme: the community as a whole has a lot of casual & jokey racism, homophobia, and transphobia that is accepted as a part of life.”

“The school (and other schools in the area) do little to nothing to address these issues,” he added.

The American Defamation League reports the number of anti-semitic incidents in the U.S. rose 57% in 2017. That’s the largest single year increase on record.