Tag: racism

Washington Post is condemned for video urging Americans to set up ‘white accountability groups’ and force themselves into ‘a period of deep shame’ over their skin color

The Washington Post has been branded ‘neoracist’ and accused of promoting a ‘pseudoreligious movement’ after the airing of a controversial video declaring people should feel ‘shame for being white’ and urging readers to form ‘white accountability groups’.

The latest episode of the series, hosted by Nicole Ellis and called the New Normal, was released on Friday and discussed how white people can combat white supremacy. 

‘An antiracist culture does not exist among white people,’ trauma specialist and author Resmaa Menakem says when introducing the concept. ‘White people need to start getting together specifically around race.’ 

The video series was launched last spring, originally to discuss the coronavirus pandemic but shifted to conversations about race after the death of George Floyd.

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Restaurants Are Now Adding ‘Equity’ Charges to Customers’ Checks to Fight Oppression

“Where should we eat tomorrow?” my wife asked me excitedly as we sat on our deck Friday evening.

She had locked down a babysitter for Saturday night, and we were both eager for our first dinner date alone together in months.

“Broders’,” I answered without hesitation.

Located in southwest Minneapolis, Broders Pasta Bar is a local gem. It has a great outdoor patio and the best Italian cuisine in the Twin Cities. We had not eaten there since the pandemic began.

My wife nodded and started to make a reservation on her phone. Then her jaw dropped.

“You’re not going to like this,” she said.

She was right.

On its website, Broders’ has a notice to customers notifying them of a new 15 percent “benefits and equity” charge they’ve instituted. They justify the charge, first, by explaining that “many states have allowed reduced minimum wages for service staff in the form of a tip credit.”

The restaurant’s second justification is that many tippers are racist and sexist, according to uncited research.

“Studies have also shown that there is inequity and built-in bias in the way consumers give tips,” the statement reads. “In general, Black or Brown servers receive less tips than Caucasian servers. There is gender bias as well.”

The final part of the statement says the new policy stems from wider racial injustice and is not a substitute for gratuity.

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Fact-Checker Poynter Demands Local News Reduce Coverage Crime Stories Because it Fuels “Systemic Racism”

Fact-checking institute Poynter is demanding that local news stations reduce coverage of stories that connect “Black and brown communities” to violent crime because it is fueling “systemic racism.”

Yes, really.

The institute, which oversees the International Fact-Checking Network which operates Politifact, put out a statement urging journalists to “break the cycle of crime reporting.”

Arrests for misdemeanors disproportionately affect people of color. Systemic racism compounds the injustice as reviews have shown that prosecutors are more likely to exclude Black jurors from trials.

The crime and courts beat exists because it’s constantly churning out stories. Much of that content is directly related to public safety. Journalists can be smarter about who we cover and the follow-up stories we provide. Kelly McBride, who chairs the Craig Newmark Center for Ethics and Leadership at Poynter, said, “Local news reporters have amplified narratives that connect Black and brown communities to crime. As a result, we have fostered systemic racism through our crime coverage.”

It’s within our power as journalists to break that cycle. We don’t need to publicize the crime blotter simply because it fills airtime or generates clicks.

The announcement was made at the same time that Politifact asserted that a claim the Austin-American Statesman deliberately omitted a mass shooting suspect’s description because he was black is “false.”

However, the original report stated the reason for not including a description of the suspect was because it “could be harmful in perpetuating stereotypes,” meaning that Politifact is outright lying.

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NAACP, Congressional Black Caucus Silent About Democrat Senator’s Membership at All-White Club

Both the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the Congressional Black Caucus were radio silent on Monday after news broke that Democrat Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) defended his membership to an elite, all-white beach club.

Breitbart News reached out to both the NAACP and the Congressional Black Caucus for comment regarding Whitehouse’s extra-curricular activities. Neither organization responded.

Whitehouse, who decried systemic racism following the deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, and Breonna Taylor, has frequented Bailey Beach Club for decades, GoLocal Providence first reported. While the 124-year-old club can’t legally mandate that its members be “all white,” its lack of diversity was first documented back in 2003 in the New York Times:

Diversity, of course, has made scant inroads on the Newport of Bailey’s Beach, whose membership profile might be defined less by who people are than what they are not. “Jewish, yes,” Audrey Oswald, a lifelong member replied, when asked about the club’s demographic composition. “Blacks, not really,” Ms. Oswald added[.]

Whitehouse defended his Bailey Beach Club membership, officially known as the Spouting Rock Beach Association, to a reporter on the eve of Juneteenth National Independence Day.

“It’s a long tradition in Rhode Island and there are many of them and I think we just need to work our way through the issues, thank you,” Whitehouse said when the reporter asked him if a wealthy, all-white club like Bailey’s should still exist in 2021.

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Dem Sen. Whitehouse Defends Family’s Membership in All-White Club: ‘It’s a Long Tradition in RI’

Senator Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), who portrays himself as a progressive social justice warrior, is facing new scrutiny over his family’s decades-long membership at an all-white country club.

Local media approached Whitehouse on Friday in Pawtucket to ask why the Bailey’s Beach Club in Newport hasn’t admitted any minorities yet.

“I think the people who are running the place are still working on that and I’m sorry it hasn’t happened yet,” Whitehouse said. 

“It’s a long tradition in Rhode Island and there are many of them and I think we just need to work our way through the issues, thank you,” he added as he was ushered away by a staffer.

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Black Crowd Cheers as White Woman is Savagely Beaten at New Jersey Juneteenth Riot

A predominantly black crowd of Juneteenth revelers cheered as a white woman was savagely beaten in the streets of a Long Branch, New Jersey commercial district while the city marked the nation’s first Juneteenth federal holiday. Police from several jurisdictions later responded to the scene while retail employees remained trapped in their shops as the celebration commemorating the end of slavery devolved into a riot.

According to local media reports, the Juneteenth celebration, held in Long Branch’s Pier Village, devolved into a full-scale riot with hundreds of celebration attendees turning on their host city and smashing up businesses and property throughout the Pier Village area.

Local police advised residents to avoid the area, dispatching officers in riot gear to quell the unrest as retail employees, many of whom are under the age of 18, remained trapped in their places of employment as the crowd targeted storefronts for destruction. Additionally, police advised that “numerous fights” involving attacks on officers had broken out in the streets.

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