From Restore Fairness blog

When the NAACP called on the Tea Party to reject the racism that exists within its ranks, Tea Party activists were outraged and denied that racism is a part of their movement — despite a clear pattern of bigotry and hate. Instead, Mark Williams, the public face of the Tea Party Express, attacked the NAACP as being a “racist” organization, saying “they make more money off of race than any slave trader, ever.”

There's more...

From the Restore Fairness blog.

It’s the first time that 1 in every 100 adult Americans is in prison, proof of an exploding prison system that states can ill afford and a movement away from rehabilitation programs. Even more disturbing are the racial disparities within the prison system. More than 60% of people in prison are racial and ethnic minorities which means 1 in every 36 Hispanic adults and 1 in every 15 black adults are in prison. How did this all happen? A change in laws and policies over the past decade have convicted more offenders, including non violent offenders, and put them away for increasingly lengthy sentences. For many, it is a system that is not providing the same returns in public safety in relation to this growth, and a rapid movement to change unfair laws has seen growing progress.

The 1980’s saw the “War on Drugs” launched in a big way. It was also the time for many federal policies that disadvantaged communities of color. One example: sentences for crack cocaine offenses (the kind found in poor Black communities) that were treated a 100 times more severely than powder cocaine offenses (the kind that dominates White communities).

Reform advocates say no other single federal policy is more responsible for gross racial disparities in the federal criminal justice system than the crack/powder sentencing disparity. Even though two-thirds of crack cocaine users are white, more than 80 percent of those convicted in federal court for crack cocaine offenses are African American.

The differences in sentencing were based on a myth that crack cocaine was more dangerous than powder cocaine and that it was instantly addictive and caused violent behavior, all of which has been disproved. What it’s actually led to is a costly system that focuses on low-level offenders and users instead of dealers and suppliers, imprisoning addicts that could benefit from rehabilitation programs. One analysis by Senator Richard Durbin, a Democrat of Illinois, estimates that an increased focus on community programs and an end to the sentencing disparity could lead to a savings of half-a-billion dollars in prison costs.

With mounting pressure on Congress to do away with legislation that has devastated communities, we are at an opportune moment to instill justice back into the system. While The House Judiciary Committee has already passed a bill that ends the sentencing disparity between crack and powder cocaine, the Senate Judiciary Committee will likely vote on a bill soon. Some Senators want to reduce the sentencing disparity instead of eliminating it but this watered-down compromise will do little to restore fairness. Let the Senators hear your voice.

Learn. Share. Act. Go to restorefairness.org

 

 

 

We should all let Hillary bow out gracefully IF that is what she genuinely wants to do.  But, does it seem to anyone today like Clinton is ready to bow out gracefully?  Instead, she's telling America that she is the candidate of hardworking whites, (while Obama must be the candidate of shiftless, lazy Blacks and Latinos?) Is that graceful?

The AfroSpear's African American Political Pundit says,

The Clintons are at it again,  first its Hillary's"white Americans" comments in another color aroused and bigoted statements about her white support. then its Bill Clinton Angrily Defending Hillary's Healthcare History. Yes, its classic Clintons making a classic color aroused case that she is the white women who understands white people. Jack and Jill Politics calls it WHITE APPEAL!As MYDD blogger kbuggy noted, "The broad consensus is that Hillary's comments are clearly deepening rifts in the Democratic party and hurting the party's chances in the fall. Are you listening superdelegates." Yes, she thinks "White Americans" Prefer her. Clinton: The candidate for white voters?
 Hillary and Billl:  The Long Color-Aroused Goodbye

The Too Sense afrosphere blog is furious, too:

I think what irritates me the most about [Krugman's] observations--because it's not wrong--is that while Krugman thinks Obama supporters have to chill out, he has no problem with Hillary telling white working class Democrats their votes are more important, as though the only source of tension was oversensitive black folk and Nintendo Wii liberals*.  Too Sense

There's more...

Many of you know Color of Change as a grassroots organization.  Instead of telling you what they do, I'll let them set the stage:

ColorOfChange.org exists to strengthen Black America's political voice. Our goal is to empower our members--Black Americans and our allies--to make government more responsive to the concerns of Black Americans and to bring about positive political and social change for everyone.

And how they do it:

Using the Internet, we will enable our members to speak in unison, with an amplified political voice. We will keep them informed about the most pressing issues for Black people in America and give them ways to act. We will lobby elected representatives using email, the telephone, and face-to-face meetings. We'll bring attention to the needs and concerns of Black folks by holding coordinated events in different parts of the country, running TV and print advertisements, and demanding that the news media cover our issues. We will also work with other groups--online efforts and other organizations that are doing related work--to magnify our impact.

So how did I - - - a caucasian - - - get involved with Color of Change, you ask?  Simple, during the Jena Six scandal, I received an email from Color of Change, and signed petitions in favor of the release of African American kids from jail as a result of bogus convictions from a racially charged incident.  

Today, I received a very different kind of email from Color of Change.  

There's more...

Color of Change put this out.

Statement of James Rucker, head of ColorOfChange.org - a 75,000 member online citizens lobby dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans:

"The CBC Institute's decision is shamefully out of step with most Black voters, and we will continue to push on the CBC Institute to drop this deal." Rucker goes on to say, "Every presidential candidate now must decide whether to legitimize Fox - a network that calls Black churches a cult, implies that Senator Barack Obama is a terrorist, and uses the solemn occasion of Coretta Scott King's funeral to call Black leaders `racist.' We will be launching a petition at www.ColorofChange.org asking presidential candidates to attend the CBC Institute's CNN debate and reject the Fox debate."

Statement of Benjamin Todd Jealous, former executive director of the National Newspaper Publishers Associations (NNPA), a 98-year old federation of more than 200 Black community newspapers.

"Fox has a long history of treating Black people unfairly. They are not a trusted news source for most Black Americans."

The CBC Institute has already announced another debate on January 24, 2008 with CNN. The YouTube video Fox Attacks: Black America by Robert Greenwald of FoxAttacks.com has already been seen by over 230,000 people and can be viewed at www.FoxAttacks.com.

The Institute's decision comes after more than 12,000 ColorOfChange.org members contacted the Institute, with more than 800 calling individual CBC members asking for leadership.  Privately, some CBC members agreed that the Fox deal was a bad idea.  But not a single member has taken a public stand.  

ColorOfChange.org - an online citizens' lobby of 75,000 members dedicated to advocating for the interests of Black Americans - launched a national letter writing campaign calling on the Congressional Black Caucus Institute to reject Fox as partner for their presidential debates.

I don't think this one's over.

There's more...