Reading List July 15, 2013

The "Hell Yes I'm Furious about the Acquittal and I Intend to Remain So" Edition

I'm glad Rick Perry thinks our justice system is color-blind but but that man wouldn't know justice if it bit him in the ass. That would give us a better understanding of karma, however.

Our real problem is white rage:

The day before a jury delivered an acquittal in the murder trial of George Zimmerman, Seminole County Sheriff Don Eslinger and Sanford Police Chief Cecil Smith gave a national press conference to appeal for a peaceful reaction to the verdict — regardless of its outcome. 

Eslinger, who is white, said “We will not tolerate anyone who uses this verdict as an excuse to violate the law.” 

The veiled threat of an aggressive police response to imaginary civil unrest belies the very logic that led to Trayvon Martin’s death to begin with. For, you see, African-Americans are never protected or served by the law enforcement apparatus — yet they are always subject to its military might. 

Sanford police coyly “tolerated” the actual killing of an unarmed black child, but yet refuse to “tolerate” any anger expressed for the acquittal of his murderer. 

This is the new Jim Crow realized.

Right because you can be angry enough to shoot a child but you're not allowed to be angry over a child being shot.

We Are Not Trayvon Martin but we sure as hell stand by his side.

Crackers

No, not the snack food, of which I'm a little too fond. The word "cracker" and the attempt to make it equivalent to the n-word (hell no, I'm not going to use that word).

Give. It. Up.

There is simply no way to make it equivalent. Cracker may be a pejorative in some cases but it doesn't have the history or weight of injustice that the n-word has and still has to this day. I can't even think of any time I've ever heard Cracker used outside of my grandparents' house and that was my Grandpa prompting me to call myself a Georgia Cracker.

This scene repeated countless times:
I'm sitting on Grandpa's lap, with strawberry blond hair in curls and big blue eyes wearing a t-shirt that says "My Granddaddy is a Shriner" and he asks me "Are you my Georgia Peach?" he'd ask me and I'd giggle and say "No! I'm a Georgia Cracker!"

If someone said it to me now, I'd probably just laugh. Somehow I fail to see the equivalency there.

Acquittals and Privilege and Race and The Damned Unfairness Of It All

I sound like a whiny child on the playground, the World is Unfair! Yes, it is but in this case it isn't the other kid who gets the lollipop that I want, it's a mater of life and death and treatment by the law.

One of the reports on NPR this morning was how the outcome of the Zimmerman trial would effect The Talk:  The Talk: What Did You Tell Your Kids After The Zimmerman Verdict? The talk wasn't a part of my life, being an UMC White girl. The closest thing I came to The Talk was "be respectful and if you get a ticket for speeding, we're taking your car." One of my coworkers told me years ago how closely he policed his son's closet and behavior and it never dawned on me that it was a matter of self-defense. I feel like an idiot that I never thought of that and I'm sure my co-worker was just shaking his head and sighing.



I was driving this weekend with my boyfriend to visit his parents when I cop pulled in behind me. Now I will confess, I'm the reason super-speeder laws were invented. The aforementioned coworker actually got out of my car once and threatened to kiss the ground after a short trip to dinner. So when Mr. Officer pulled in behind me, I checked my speed and I mentally verified my license and insurance were on me. Just in case. I've been pulled over before, usually for lights out or (thank god rarely) for speeding. Privilege comes in to play because I didn't once think about driving a good car in rural Georgia and whether or not I'd be pulled over because of the color of my skin. I didn't have to think about what to do to be less threatening, I didn't have to worry about being arrested because I was "mouthy". I can be assured if I'm pulled over, I probably deserve it. So today I think about my friends and co-workers who are rightfully afraid for their children and I wish desperately this world were different and that I could do more to change it. Because it's just not fair.

Reading List June 28, 2013

Wow, way to put yourself out on the line, Wal-Mart!

NC jobless losing federal compensation Sunday: 'They are really putting the gun to your head now.'
So what are the long-term unemployed supposed to do? If you don't have money, you can't go to school to learn new ones. You can't eat or have a place to live. What kind of future are you supposed to have?

This is wonderful and may it be be only the first in a never-ending series of celebrations.

Reading List June 26, 2013

Who needs those pesky worker protections anyway? There's little focus on this but it certainly makes work life that much harder now, especially in Right To Work states (HA!).

From the Better Late Than Never Department:
This is a huge load off of my mind. I was so worried about the sexual assault epidemic in the military but apparently, it's not so bad and it's easily explained.

This is the reality of the SCOTUS decision on voter registration. I first voted in 1992 in my college town of Rome, GA. Fast forward a decade (plus)  and this certainly would have been my story.

#IStandWithWendy What an amazing act of courage! And what an amazing display of asshattery for the Texas Legislature to try to sneak #SB5 through after midnight. Of course Texas has been trying to turn back the clock for years... to 1850.

And speaking of screwing American workers, let's look at Hostess to see how it's done.

• Unionized Hostess workers made major concessions, taking pay and benefits cuts. That money was supposed to be reinvested into the company. It wasn't.
• As the company was struggling, its CEO pay skyrocketed, and as it was going into bankruptcy, Hostess pushed to give $1.75 million in bonuses to top executives.
• Hostess claimed it had to close plants because workers went on strike, but in fact, the company was already planning to close nine bakeries and wasn't telling which ones.
• Hostess stole its workers' pension money to fund itself and still went bankrupt.
• And, as Media Matters points out, "while the AP story claims that "workers" are blaming the company's woes on mismanagement and a failure to adapt to evolving consumer tastes, this has actually been the opinion of informed and objective third parties."

Reading List June 24, 2013

An honest look at the history of eugenics in the United States and the rise of the concept of White Trash.

Texas Republican finds cure for rape! So have I, it's called teaching men not to rape women in the first place and ensuring women are able to get justice and treatment afterwards. Wait, I was wrong. It's not a cure. Maybe it was an abortion instead?

12-Year-Old Girl Kicked Off Football Team Because Boys Had ‘Impure Thoughts’ About Her
And this is her problem how? Let her play!

How Can We Call Ourselves Civilized...

... when this is what we allow?*

Society is judged not by how the fortunate is treated but by our actions towards the less fortunate. The number of people we incarcerate every year is appalling by itself but how they're treated is a disgrace to this country. But they're criminals, you say, they committed crimes, they deserve to be treated this way. If they wanted to be a part of society, they shouldn't have broken the law.

If you have broken a law in this county, in many prisons, you can expect to be raped or sexually assaulted by inmates or guards. You may be put in solitary confinement for weeks, months or even years. If you have health issues, they could be ignored until it's too late for effective treatment and mental health issues will be almost certainly ignored.

The point of incarceration, whether punishment or rehabilitation, is a good question but regardless of the answer, under no circumstances should a country treat any of it's citizens (or visitors to this country) this way. It goes against everything a moral, civilized country should stand for.

*America's private prison system is a national disgrace

Sunday Bloody Sunday, Still Relevant Today

U2 performs special version of "Sunday Bloody Sunday" with new verse - can you hear it? bit.ly/11bGYsi
— ONE (@ONECampaign) June 13, 2013

Listen closely, there's a new line added to this classic song. It doesn't matter if you're asking about the Troubles in Northern Ireland or violence in the Middle East, hunger and poverty in Africa or in the United States, hatred and injustice world-wide how long must this go on is a universal question.