Tag: racism

DHS to label white supremacists as the ‘most persistent and lethal threat’ to the US

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is set to label white supremacists as the most serious terror threat facing the United States. 

In three draft reports reviewed by Politico, DHS says the threat posed by white supremacists is more significant than the immediate danger from foreign terrorists.

“Foreign terrorist organizations will continue to call for Homeland attacks but probably will remain constrained in their ability to direct such plots over the next year,” all three documents say.

Russia “probably will be the primary covert foreign influence actor and purveyor of disinformation and misinformation in the Homeland,” the documents add.

DHS did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

Kevin McAleenan, the former acting DHS secretary, ordered the agency last year to start crafting annual homeland threat assessments. The three draft documents use varying language to describe the threat posed by white supremacists, but all of them say they pose the most significant threat, according to Politico.

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New York public college offering course called ‘Abolition of Whiteness’

A public college in New York City is offering an undergraduate class called the “Abolition of Whiteness,” adding to what critics say is a growing number of courses aimed at the study of “whiteness” at colleges and universities around the country.

Hunter College — a public school in Manhattan that is part of the City University of New York — is advertising a course in its Fall 2017 catalog that examines “how whiteness – and/or white supremacy and violence – is intertwined with conceptions of gender, race, sexuality, class, body ability, nationality, and age.”

The “Abolition of Whiteness,” taught by Prof. Jennifer Gaboury, can be taken as either a women and gender studies course or a political science class, according to the school’s online course catalog.

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USC Suspended a Communications Professor for Saying a Chinese Word That Sounds Like a Racial Slur

Greg Patton is a professor of clinical business communication at the University of Southern California. During a recent virtual classroom session, he was discussing public speaking patterns and the filler words that people use to space out their ideas: um, er, etc. Patton mentioned that the Chinese often use a word that is pronounced like nega.

“In China the common word is ‘that, that that that,’ so in China it might be ‘nega, nega, nega, nega,'” Patton explained to his class. “So there’s different words you’ll hear in different cultures, but they’re vocal disfluencies.”

But because the Chinese word nega sounds like nigger, some students were offended and reported the matter to the administration. Patton is now suspended, according to Campus Reform:

On Tuesday evening, the USC Marshall School of Business provided Campus Reform with a statement, confirming that Patton is no longer teaching his course.

“Recently, a USC faculty member during class used a Chinese word that sounds similar to a racial slur in English. We acknowledge the historical, cultural and harmful impact of racist language,” the statement read.

Patton “agreed to take a short term pause while we are reviewing to better understand the situation and to take any appropriate next steps.”

Another instructor is temporarily teaching the class.

USC is now “offering supportive measures to any student, faculty, or staff member who requests assistance.” The school is “committed to building a culture of respect and dignity where all members of our community can feel safe, supported, and can thrive.”

This is ridiculous. It seems clear that Patton did not mean to harm anyone, and that the point he was making was perfectly valid. The resemblance between these two words is purely coincidental, and adults should be perfectly capable of hearing the Chinese version without fainting in front of their computer screens. Anyone who is this prepared to be bothered all the time needs to turn down their outrage dial.

“I’ll say this ten thousand times, but if anyone thinks they’re helping the cause of racial equality by engaging in absurd, over-the-top speech policing of innocent people, then they’re sadly mistaken,” wrote The Dispatch‘s David French.

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Speaker Threatened Retribution at Weekend Rally in Kenosha

For an event described by the New York Times as a “peaceful protest,” the words are jarring: “[I]f you kill one of us, it’s time for us to kill one of yours,” a speaker thundered toward the end of last weekend’s Justice for Jacob rally in Kenosha, Wisconsin. Several apparently incurious news reports referred to the speaker as an unidentified man who “took the microphone” toward the end of the program. However, through a Facebook post, The Dispatch identified the scheduled speaker as Maruwa Ferrell, president of one of the host organizations of the rally listed on a Facebook page announcing the event: the UNIA-ACL Sir Isaiah Morter Division 401 Chicago, a chapter of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League.

On August 29, Jacob Blake’s family and supporters held the “Justice for Jacob” event in Kenosha, the town where Blake was shot seven times in the back by police during his arrest in mid-August. The Kenosha News reported that most “speakers were more focused on social justice and not physical revenge,” but the newspaper initially headlined its story on the rally with Ferrell’s inflammatory words. Despite the sensational nature of the threatening words, the story did not get much attention until Daniel Thompson, an editor at the newspaper (and according to Thompson, the only black full-time staff member) resigned when the paper refused to change the headline. Thompson asserted that the headline distorted the overall peaceful tone of the rally. (The paper subsequently changed the headline after Thompson’s resignation.)

Maruwa Ferrell was enthusiastically introduced at the rally by Jacob Blake’s uncle Justin Blake (who acted as emcee for the event) only as “my president,” an apparent reference to Ferrell’s position with the Chicago UNIA. Ferrell warned his listeners that his words would not be welcomed by all, and he did not disappoint. Ferrell’s “it’s time for us to kill one of yours” threat was met with a muted reaction by the crowd, but he was permitted to finish his remarks.

Farrell’s group, the UNIA-ACL Sir Isaiah Morter Division 401 Chicago, describes itself as “committed to the economic, political and social liberation of African people.” The organization emphasizes self-sufficiency for people of African descent. The group’s Facebook page posts various memes such as “None of my ancestors died for me so I can vote for the white people that killed them!” and “Them: Black Lives Matter. Me: Race First / Black Power. It’s a Difference!” Other Facebook posts boost black-owned businesses and the UNIA’s charitable endeavors.

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NPR Claims That Calling a Riot a “Riot” is Racist

NPR published an article claiming that calling a riot a “riot” is offensive because it’s “rooted in racism.”

Yes, really.

The article was written by Jonathan Levinson for Oregon Public Broadcasting, the Portland NPR affiliate.

Portland has experienced 93 days of continuous rioting – last night was the first time in that entire period that the city has not seen unrest – but according to Levinson, merely calling a spade a spade is a racist dog whistle.

Levinson’s argument for this position is vague to the point of being non-existent. He appears upset that police are able to declare a riot and use crowd control measures to disperse violent BLM mobs.

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Instagram Video Shows Baltimore Man Bash White Man’s Head With Brick in Unprovoked Attack

An Instagram video showing a black smash the back of a white man’s head head was posted to the social media network with the hashtags “#WhiteLivesDoNotMatter” and “#BlackLivesMatter.”

The short clip shows a black man stalk a random white man walking down the street before running up to him and throwing a brick to the back of his head from close range, instantly knocking him out and falling hard to the pavement.

The giggling person filming cheered as a horrific thud was heard as the brick made contact to the man’s skull. Despite the violence content being celebrated, the video remained on the platform for several hours after it was posted.

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Man Executes White Family, Shoots Bystander Over Argument Following Fender Bender

A father and his stepdaughter were shot, and a man who tried to intervene was wounded, after a minor automobile crash in South Carolina.

Nick Wall, 45, and his 21-year-old stepdaughter, Laura Anderson, both from Georgetown, died in separate hospitals after being shot by a man they crashed into in a random minor automobile accident on Monday afternoon.

A third man who witnessed the crash and ensuing altercation was shot, but survived the incident, remaining in critical condition, as he came to check on the passengers and investigate the situation.

Ty Sheem Ha Sheem Walters III reportedly fled into a nearby forest after the shooting, but was arrested shortly after attempting to escape as bloodhound units assisted in tracking him down.

Police say Walters is responsible for the shooting, and Walters is current facing double murder charges as well as an attempted murder charge. His bond hearing is scheduled for September.

ABC4 reported that Laura was on the path to follow her mother’s footsteps in becoming a teacher, according to her family. She had also moved into her first home within a week of the fatal shooting.

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