Several Black students who were suspended for trying to protest Confederate flag displays at their school in Georgia have filed a federal lawsuit against their school district and its board members, accusing them of allowing an extensive pattern of racism including “overt bigotry and animosity by some white students and teachers against African American students.” The students, joined by their mothers as plaintiffs, already made news when their protest at Coosa High School was stifled last fall. Now, in their lawsuit filed Tuesday against the Floyd County school district and its board members, they allege an extensive pattern of racism, including white students reenacting the murder of George Floyd and posting it on social media, and a student who carried what appeared to be a whip and told a Black student “we used to whip you.” They also allege unfair punishment: Students are banned from wearing Black Lives Matter shirts, but Confederate flag apparel is acceptable under … [Read more...] about Georgia students sue over blocked protest against rebel flag
18d racial discrimination act
The Buffalo shooting was centuries in the making, experts say
Some 2,000 Black people were killed from 1865 to 1876, during the Reconstruction era, the result of a widespread effort to use white supremacist terror to maintain economic, political and social control over newly emancipated Black people, according to the Equal Justice Initiative . This reign of terror worked to stamp out any semblance of Black progress after slavery, working hand in hand with oppressive Jim Crow laws that enforced legal segregation throughout the country for decades. A white man is accused of continuing this legacy of white supremacist terror on Saturday when he allegedly traveled to a supermarket in a Black neighborhood in Buffalo, New York, and killed 10 people , most of them Black. Experts say his act was not episodic or unprecedented, but is part of America’s violent history of using racial terror to intimidate and exert power over Black people. In the days since the shooting, conversations about hate crimes and gun control have consumed the nation. … [Read more...] about The Buffalo shooting was centuries in the making, experts say
Don’t Stop Using the Term ‘Cancel Culture’
Few terms have been as abused as “cancel culture.” Its very existence is a point of controversy, despite the fact that large majorities both on and off campus feel pressured to censor themselves for fear of losing their jobs or reputations. But it’s a real thing—no matter how many ways its meaning has been wrongly distorted. On March 3, Sergei Naryshkin, head of Russian foreign intelligence, accused the West of attempting to “cancel” their government for its invasion of Ukraine, echoing claims made by Vladimir Putin about alleged American cancel culture. Former New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said the allegations of sexual harassment and a toxic workplace that led to his resignation were cancel culture. And, of course, former President Donald Trump has blamed cancel culture for just about everything — including the Jan. 6 committee’s decision to subpoena Roger Stone and Alex Jones. Ridiculous non-examples of cancel culture, such as these, provide all the ammunition … [Read more...] about Don’t Stop Using the Term ‘Cancel Culture’
‘Cyber Hell’ only scratches surface of South Korea’s sex crime crisis
South Korea's ongoing sex crime crisis forms the focus of a gripping new Netflix documentary— Cyber Hell: Exposing an Internet Horror. The latest program reveals just the tip of the iceberg of sex crimes in the Asian country, which can be traced back to a "deep-rooted gender inequality " and an increase in gender-based violence, Boram Jang, East Asia Researcher at Amnesty International, told Newsweek. "According to the Korean Institute of Criminology and Justice, violent crimes such as murder, robbery and arson are generally decreasing in Korean society, but crimes involving sexual violence are steadily rising," Jang said. Released on Wednesday, the new Netflix documentary follows the exposé of a sexual abuse scandal that saw dozens of women—including minors—allegedly being blackmailed into capturing non-consensual , sexually explicit images and videos of themselves. The footage was shared and sold via online chat rooms—known collectively as the "Nth Room"—on … [Read more...] about ‘Cyber Hell’ only scratches surface of South Korea’s sex crime crisis
New York corrections officer suspended for allegedly sharing social media post mocking Buffalo supermarket shooting
A New York corrections officers been suspended without pay after allegedly sharing a social media post joking about the Tops supermarket shooting over the weekend that left 10 dead and three others injured. Gregory C. Foster II, a correction officer at the Attica Correctional Facility in Attica, about a hour away from Buffalo, shared a "despicable social media post," the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision (DOCCS) said in a Tuesday statement . He allegedly shared a meme on Facebook that showed a photo of the Tops supermarket with a caption about a “clean up” in multiple aisles DOCCS confirmed. Officials reveal new details in Buffalo shooting investigation May 17, 2022 02:32 Authorities have called the supermarket attack a hate motivated shooting as 11 of the 13 people shot were Black by a white 18-year-old gunman. The shooting is now the subject of local and federal investigations. Attorney … [Read more...] about New York corrections officer suspended for allegedly sharing social media post mocking Buffalo supermarket shooting
Only the Right Can Defeat White Nationalism
The massacre in El Paso, Texas, has, for the moment, reminded Americans of the danger posed by far-right terrorists. Former national-security officials have demanded that the U.S. government “make addressing this form of terrorism as high a priority as countering international terrorism has become since 9/11.” Retired Marine General John Allen and the former senior U.S. diplomat Brett McGurk have argued that far-right extremism poses “an equal threat” as jihadist groups such as ISIS. This is incorrect. White nationalism is a far greater threat to American democracy than jihadism, and always has been. But there are actually two challenges posed by white nationalism: One is the threat posed to American communities by attacks like the one in El Paso, which law enforcement can and should prevent. The other is the threat the ideology the attackers support poses to American democracy, which can be defeated only through politics, and only by the American people themselves. “There’s an … [Read more...] about Only the Right Can Defeat White Nationalism
Parsing Yoon’s inaugural address
Ko Jung-ae The author is an editorial writer of the JoongAng Ilbo. Inauguration speeches of past presidents were much of the same. They all praised the history of the Korean people, while describing the president as a leader who will open a new era and present many promises in all fields of national governance. For example, the last president made a promise that he will create a country that no one has ever experienced. President Yoon Suk-yeol’s address, however, was different. The difference was more significant than the simple fact that he mentioned “freedom” 35 times but never mentioned “unity.” His inaugural address was to the world audience. At the same time, nationalism was largely diluted. The speech was devoid of any mention of the Korean people. According to Yoon Pyung-joong, honorary professor at Hanshin University, nationalistic sentiments and collective unconscious is a habit of mind for the Korean people. Yoon, however, did not use it at all. In his inaugural … [Read more...] about Parsing Yoon’s inaugural address
Wisconsin man gets 10 years in prison for racist acid attack
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A judge sentenced a white Wisconsin man to a decade in prison Wednesday for throwing acid in a Latino man's face in a racist attack at a Milwaukee bus stop. Milwaukee County Circuit Judge Jean Marie Kies told 64-year-old Clifton Blackwell that he acted with hate when he threw the acid on Mahud Villalaz in November 2019. She said he wasn't provoked and that his behavior was “diabolical.” “We're all different from one another. ... When we let those differences cloud our judgment, that's bias or prejudice or discrimination, and in this instance it is hate,” the judge told Blackwell. “I'm sure (the acid) was absolutely painful. And you caused him emotional distress that I think is never going to heal. You made him feel he's not worthy and that's diabolical.” Villalaz testified that the vision in his left eye was permanently damaged by the attack, and the judge said Villalaz suffered second-degree burns. Blackwell attended the hearing in a wheelchair … [Read more...] about Wisconsin man gets 10 years in prison for racist acid attack
Tucker Carlson Deserves Blame—But Not for Buffalo
This is an edition of Up for Debate, a newsletter by Conor Friedersdorf. On Wednesdays, he rounds up timely conversations and solicits reader responses to one thought-provoking question. Every Monday, he publishes some thoughtful replies. Sign up for the newsletter here. Question of the Week Caitlin Flanagan’s masterful “ Chasing Joan Didion ” has me thinking about travel. What have you learned while away from home? Paint a picture of where you went and share your insights. Conversations of Note Top of the mind: the mass shooting Saturday in Buffalo, New York, in which a white-supremacist terrorist killed 10 people. My colleague Graeme Wood, an expert on murderous extremists , read the killer’s apparent manifesto and grappled with whether it ought to be shared or suppressed. The Los Angeles Times editorial board argued that “Americans have ignored the insidious creep of white supremacy into the public discourse to the point that it has become normalized.” … [Read more...] about Tucker Carlson Deserves Blame—But Not for Buffalo
Dismantling Tucker Carlson’s White-Supremacy Argument
After a white gunman killed 22 people in El Paso, Texas, citing a mythical “Hispanic invasion of Texas” as his motive, Republican Senator Ted Cruz declared on Twitter that “what we saw yesterday was a heinous act of terrorism and white supremacy.” Republican Congressman Dan Crenshaw tweeted, “White supremacy has no place in this world. Violence inflicted because of someone’s race or ethnicity is vile, repulsive, and one of the worst evils we face.” Ivanka Trump declared, “White supremacy, like all other forms of terrorism, is an evil that must be destroyed.” The Fox News host Tucker Carlson didn’t share any of those statements with viewers of his program on Tuesday, when he portrayed concerns about white supremacy as “a hoax” by Democrats engaged in a “relentless bid to divide this country.” Those omissions are egregious. Carlson betrayed the trust of his viewers, eliding facts in a way that could stoke the very divisions he accused others of sowing. And apart from the … [Read more...] about Dismantling Tucker Carlson’s White-Supremacy Argument