You are currently browsing the tag archive for the ‘hispanic’ tag.
More Hispanics Identifying Themselves as Indians
“Hispanic is not a race, ” said [activist and blogger Carlos A.] Quiroz, whose ancestors were the Quechua people, of the Central Andes. “Hispanic is not a culture. Hispanic is an invention by some people who wanted to erase the identity of indigenous communities in America.”
Sarah Nyakuoth William
South Sudan war widow: ‘I will have a country at last’
On the occasion of South Sudan’s independence from the Republic of Sudan, Sarah Nyakuoth William said, “I knew we’d get here in the end, but I didn’t know if I would ever see the day. Finally the day is here. I’m happy, happy for the future for my children, and all of South Sudan.”
No “boys” and “girls” at gender-neutral preschool in Sweden
At the “Egalia” preschool [in Stockholm], staff avoid using words like “him” or “her” and address the 33 kids as “friends” rather than girls and boys.
Kansas Sued Over Nonsensical Abortion Clinic Guidelines
…which seem oddly more intended to prevent women from accessing abortion than making abortion safer. Huh, how about that.
Under the new requirements, the three remaining clinics in the state would have to make enormous structural changes to their buildings and obtain new certifications in just two weeks or face possible closure.
Lawsuit pending!
NYPD Celebrates Gay Pride by Raiding a Gay Bar Minutes After Gay Marriage Victory
The Eagle patron Christopher J. Borras said, “I find interesting the timing. I would just like to know from the police: `Why did they do that?’ To me, it is a blatant sign of intimidation and harassment, I mean, 42 years after the Stonewall riots and we still have to live in fear of the police disturbing our quiet enjoyment of life?”
Arizona Elementary School (Almost) Whitened The Faces Of Its Own Students On A Mural Because Some Racists Yelled At It
From the Huffington Post:
An Arizona elementary school mural featuring the faces of kids who attend the school has been the subject of constant daytime drive-by racist screaming…
From AZ Central:
A group of artists has been asked to lighten the faces of children depicted in a giant public mural at a Prescott school.
The project’s leader says he was ordered to lighten the skin tone after complaints about the children’s ethnicity. But the school’s principal says the request was only to fix shading and had nothing to do with political pressure.
From Mother Jones:
While creating the mural, “We consistently, for two months, had people shouting racial slander from their cars,” said artist R.E. Wall of the Prescott Downtown Mural Project. “We had children painting with us, and here come these yells of (epithet for Blacks) and (epithet for Hispanics).”
I assume you can fill in those blanks.
Prescott Councilmember Steve Blair said on the radio:
“I am not a racist individual, but I will tell you that depicting a black guy in the middle of that mural, based upon who’s President of the United States today, and based upon the history of this community when I grew up, we had four black families, who I have been very good friends with for years, to depict the biggest picture on that building as a black person, I would have to ask the question, ‘Why?’” (Blair was mistakenly identifying the Hispanic boy on the mural as black.)
Back at Mother Jones:
The school district head and the principal, confronted with a crowd of protesters, made a dramatic about-face and announced by bullhorn that the mural would remain as is. “Miller Valley made made a mistake,” said principal Jeff Lane. “When we asked R. [the artist] to lighten the mural, we made a mistake.”
*My note: “hispanic” is not a race. A person can be hispanic and white, hispanic and brown, hispanic and black. Just saying.
h/t Shenanigans.
My Daughter, Her Hair, and the Seattle School District
Sez Charles Mudede at the Slog:
…just last week, my daughter—who is 8 and happens to be the only brown person in her Accelerated Progress Program class at Thurgood Marshall Elementary—was ordered out of the classroom because her teacher did not like the smell of her hair. The teacher complained that my racially different daughter’s hair (or something—a product—in the hair) was making her sick, and then the teacher made her leave the classroom. My daughter was aware of the racial nature of this expulsion not only because she was made to sit in a classroom that had more black students in it (the implication being that this is where she really belongs, in the lower class with the other black students), but because her teacher, she informed me, owns a dog. Meaning, a dog’s hair gives the teacher less problems than my daughter’s human but curly hair. Most white people do not have to deal with shit like this. Shit that if not checked and confronted will have permanent consequences for the child.
The lawyer hired by the Seattle school district, if he knows anything, knows that THERE’S NO RACISM HERE!
Any allegations of racial insensitivity or negligence are “wholly untrue,” [Kevin] O’Neill says, “because, well, because the district would not tolerate employment of a teacher that has racial animosity towards a student.”
…However, O’Neill also says he doesn’t know what exactly happened or “the reasons that this child was asked to leave.” Until the investigation is complete, he says, it’s unclear what was offensive about the hair product that reportedly made the teacher sick, why the district hadn’t done anything for three days, whether an incident like this had ever occurred before, whether anyone had spoken to the teacher about the incident, whether school district rules prohibit any cosmetics, or what current or future steps are required for the investigation.
Mudede concludes with:
Feeling the seriousness of this situation, we decided not to send our daughter to school until the teacher had medical proof that our daughter’s hair or something in her hair was to blame for the nausea. (The last thing you want to happen to your daughter is for a teacher to faint or vomit at the mere sight of her.)
Days passed and the school took no action. This unresponsiveness left us with no other choice than to turn to a lawyer.
h/t Scorn
POST-RACIAL!!!
The news that 65 black and hispanic youth campers were denied entrance to Valley Club’s pool, which is used by whites, even though they had already paid for membership, has spread quite a bit already.
H/t Feministe
I have only two things to add.
First, if you read the story, it seems pretty cut and dried. The Club sold the camp memberships unaware that they were for (gasp!) black children (the horror!), the Club quickly realized upon the children’s first vist that they were black (and hispanic), and the Club revoked their membership.
Then add this:
“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.”
And this:
“There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club,” John Duesler, President of The Valley Swim Club said in a statement.
And this:
“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.
And the Valley Club website, which used to be here but seems to have been removed in the last couple days, previously showed a variety of photos of happy white people and white children enjoying the Club’s facilities, including the swimming pool. I was unable to find a single person of color in any photo.
Racism, right?
Well, over at NBC they aren’t so sure. They inserted this statement into their story on the matter: “Campers remain unsure why they’re no longer welcome.”
What The Hell. Is it too political to name racism when it is found? Using even the most basic and simplistic definition of racism, this incident would still fit the term. The children were denied entrance because of their race. Racism. How could that possibly be so controversial that NBC wouldn’t even feel comfortable printing the word? Oh, because some whites may be offended. Well excuse me.
So there’s that. And then there’s how you can take action. You can sign the petition at Color of Change! Or write your own note and send it to P.O. Box 134, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006 or info@thevalleyclub.com.
Tell ‘em what’s UP. Without making threats or terroristic statements. Duh.
Arrest made in anti-Latino and homophobic murder! Jose Sucuzhañay was murdered in Brooklyn by men shouting racist and homophobic slurs.
From VivirLatino:
Hakim Scott, 25, was arrested yesterday in connection with the beating death. Police are looking for another suspect, identified as Keith Phoenix, 28, of the Bronx.
Let us hope that justice is served.
Via Immigration Talk with a Mexican-American.
From the New York Times:
The two brothers from Ecuador had attended a church party and had stopped at a bar afterward. They may have been a bit tipsy as they walked home in the dead of night, arm-in-arm, leaning close to each other, a common tableau of men in Latino cultures, but one easily misinterpreted by the biased mind.
Suddenly a car drew up. It was 3:30 a.m. Sunday, and the intersection of Bushwick Avenue and Kossuth Place in Bushwick, Brooklyn, a half-block from the brothers’ apartment, was nearly deserted — but not quite. Witnesses, the police said, heard some of what happened next.
Three men came out of the car shouting at the brothers, Jose and Romel Sucuzhanay — something ugly, anti-gay and anti-Latino…
The two brothers were Jose and Romel Sucuzhanay. While Romel broke away to find help, the three men beat Jose with a bottle and a baseball bat. By the time the men had run off and help arrived, Jose didn’t have a chance. He died today of his injuries.
Somewhere in Brooklyn are three men who will try to KILL you if they don’t like the way you look. You don’t even have to be gay or Latino. You just have to look gay or Latino. I guess appearing to be both is an unforgivable sin that requires an immediate death sentence.
I don’t have much further I can say, but how disappointed I am in my community.
Recent Comments