If You Believe Anything – You’ll Follow Al Sharpton

Al Sharpton and others are still throwing a hissy fit over the verdict in the case of Sean Bell.

Mr. Bell was killed when the car he was in and those with him assaulted police officers, refused to heed clear and direct orders from the officers and the officers attempted to protect themselves from a threat.

Second guess the cops all you want but you cannot honestly say that they did not act properly when threatened. Those are the clear facts of the case.

But it does not matter to Al Sharpton and his legions of lemmings who are angry at the world and looking to blame someone else. One man, according to a report on wcbstv.com said, “We have to fight for something or we’ll fall for anything. It’s not just about Sean Bell. It’s about every man that’s been unjustly killed in America. The point to make to the people is to get their attention. It could be their son tomorrow or their daughter tomorrow.”

Apparently however the “something” that people like this want to fight for isn’t the truth. That is what is scary. Because they will fight for anything if they think they can make a point. It doesn’t matter if the point is correct or not – what matters is the narrative.

And in the narrative of Sean Bell, the fact that he and his buddies did a lot of stupid things in succession and put the police in the situation which resulted in his death is lost.

But hey - the narrative is good right? Fight the power!

And when you are in the same predicament as you are today but 20 years from now you can only blame yourself.

Another Liberal Caught Up In Their Own Political Correctness

It sure is fun to watch liberals get taken down by the aura of political correctness they and their fellow travelers fought so hard to errect. The latest is an Obama delegate who used the term “monkies” to describe children of the darker persuation playing in a tree:

CARPENTERSVILLE, Ill. (AP) - An Illinois delegate for Democratic Sen. Barack Obama resigned after using the word “monkeys” to describe black children playing in a tree, the Obama campaign said Tuesday.

Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski, a trustee in the Chicago suburb of Carpentersville, was issued a $75 ticket for disorderly conduct after neighbors complained to police. She says the word wasn’t meant racially and she will fight the ticket.

“Given the incident, Linda Ramirez-Sliwinski is stepping down as a delegate and will be replaced,” said Obama spokeswoman Amy Brundage.

The incident occurred Saturday, when two children were playing in a tree next door to Ramirez-Sliwinski’s house.

She said the parents were outside supervising the children, but she went over and told them to get out of the tree because she was concerned about the boys’ safety and because the small magnolia tree was being damaged.

The father of one of the boys told her it was none of her business, she told the Chicago Tribune, and “I calmly said the tree is not there for them to be climbing in there like monkeys.”

Of course she meant nothing racial by it. I actually believe her. But saddly in this day and age your fellow travelers have created an environment where if you refer to children climbing in trees like monkeys as “monkeys” and one of them is black, the book is thrown at you.

And, if it’s any consolation if you had refered to them as something else, like say hanging in the tree like a bunch of bananas, then liberals would have taken offense to that too. Heck, if you have simply called them “children” some liberal would have probably said, “what do you mean by that!”

Yes, Virginia, There really is a “Christmas Tree” !

Officials in the town of Queen Creek, Arizona have been advised by lawyers for The Alliance Defense Fund that the use of the word “Christmas” does not violate the Constitution.

“The American people, common sense, and the Constitution are clearly winning the war on Christmas waged by the Left,” said Gary McCaleb, ADF senior counsel. “Unfortunately, the misguided belief that we must sanitize Christmas to keep from offending a small segment of the population exists.”

Residents of the town recently sent dozens of emails to officials asking that the “Holiday Tree”, displayed at city hall, be returned to it’s original designation as a “Christmas Tree”.

“We understanding that there is often a great deal of misinformation surrounding public acknowledgement and celebration of Christmas,” the letter, signed by legal counsel Jeremy Tedesco, said.

“Consequently, ADF has assisted municipalities across the country in separating fact from fiction in regard to seasonal expression by public bodies like Queen Creek.

“Queen Creek does not violate the First Amendment when it uses the word ‘Christmas’ or incorporates religious references into its Christmas celebrations,” the letter said. “Certainly erecting a Christmas tree and recognizing it for what it is offends no constitutional principles.”

The letter noted the courts even have recognized the government’s display of a nativity scene as constitutional.

“One need not look further than the United States president to see that governmental entities and officials are permitted to reference religion, and specifically Christmas,” he said. “At this year’s lighting ceremony for the annual National Christmas Tree, President Bush made the following remarks:

“Christmas is a time of rejoicing and reflection. Each year at this time, we rejoice in the proclamation of good news, that in Bethlehem of Judea, a Savior was born. And we rejoice in the Christmas promise of peace to men of goodwill. We also reflect on the mystery of Christmas: the story of the Almighty, who entered history in the most vulnerable form possible â€“ hidden in the weakness of a newborn child…”

“It is our opinion that Queen Creek need not fear legal liability for calling a Christmas tree a Christmas tree. Indeed, any lawsuit challenging a municipality’s recognition of Christmas would be completely frivolous,” the letter said.

“I’ve always wanted it to be called a Christmas tree, and I’ve always wondered why we call it a holiday tree,” Mayor Art Sanders told the Associated Press. “If we’re going to have a holiday tree-lighting, it should be a Christmas tree, in the same way you wouldn’t call a menorah a holiday candlestick.”

“ADF will continue to protect the right to publicly celebrate Christmas as well as other constitutionally protected religious liberties that are attacked,” said McCaleb. “It is time to stop the ridiculous assault on a holiday celebrated by 95 percent of Americans.”

Black Activists Condemn Philadelphia City Council’s Boy Scout Eviction

or Release: December 13, 2007
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org

Black Activists Condemn Philadelphia City Council’s Boy Scout Eviction

Washington, D.C. - Black activists from the Project 21 leadership network are condemning the Philadelphia City Council’s decision to evict the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) from its regional headquarters after the city failed to reach a compromise with the Boy Scouts on a gay rights policy.

“I live close to Philadelphia and am aware of the problems plaguing the city,” said Project 21 member Jimmie Hollis. “The fact that the City Council is taking exception to the Boy Scouts is an outrage. With so much to fix, why are they so willing to instead hobble an organization trying to help people?”

On June 1, the BSA’s Cradle of Liberty Council will be forced out of the Bruce Marks Council Service Center because it will not rescind its policy of prohibiting homosexual members. City Councilman Darrell L. Clarke told the New York Times, “you cannot be in a city-owned facility being subsidized by the taxpayers and not have language in your lease that talks about nondiscrimination.” This date became final last week when the City Council broke off negotiations with the BSA.

BSA spokesman Gregg Shields told the Times, “we believe that open homosexuality would be inconsistent with the values that we want to communicate with our leaders.” This policy was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 2000, when the Court ruled the BSA is a private organization that can set its own membership rules under the protection of the First Amendment.

The Marks Center was built by the BSA, but the half-acre parcel of land on which it is located is owned by the city. A city council vote last May stuck down the ordinance that granted the BSA a special $1 a year lease. BSA leaders say they cannot pay the estimated market-value lease of $200,000 a year while continuing to serve their 69,000 local members, provide in-school training and after-school mentoring programs and send 800 needy children summer camp.

While the Cradle of Liberty Council was thought to be willing to enact a policy statement previously agreed to by the BSA’s New York chapters saying that “prejudice, intolerance and unlawful discrimination in any form are unacceptable” without dropping its homosexual prohibition, Philadelphia officials preemptively said that, if it did so, the BSA would still be violating the city law.

“If the Boy Scouts were anti-God, championed homosexuality and were anti-establishment, I would venture to say they would find themselves welcome in Philadelphia. It’s the fact that they stick to and seek to promote a responsible and reasonable code of ethics that makes them a target of the anti-family left that tends to dominate urban governments such as Philadelphia’s these days,” said Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie.

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992. For more information, contact David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org, or visit Project 21’s website at www.project21.org/P21Index.html.

Amazon.com Widgets

“Offensive” Play Back on Schedule

For Release: November 29, 2007
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org

Black Activists Criticize Local NAACP for
Attempt to Censor Ohio School Play

Washington, D.C. - The Lakota East High School dramatic production of the Agatha Christie novel Ten Little Indians — initially cancelled by school administrators after it was called racially insensitive by a local NAACP leader — is back on, but with changes that imply the play will be compromised by political correctness.

Members of the Project 21 black leadership network call the actions of Butler County NAACP president Gary Hines inappropriate and detrimental to race relations. They say it presents the appearance of a shakedown of the southwestern Ohio school system. They are also critical of school officials for buckling under pressure from Hines.

“In this era of unprecedented equality, and particularly when it affects impressionable and innocent young people, Gary Hines is stirring the pot of racial animosity with a pretty big spoon,” said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli. “It appears he whipped up a controversy that may generate business for him. Some people would call that a shakedown.”

East Lakota students worked for months to produce the play “Ten Little Indians,” which the Educational Theatre Association says is one of the top 25 plays produced by high schools nationwide. Based on the Agatha Christie novel of the same name, it is a murder mystery about a killer stalking a group of strangers trapped on an island. The killer knocks over Indian figurines after a murder is committed.

When it was first published in England in 1939, the title used the “n-word” instead of Indian, and the original English book cover had black figures on it. The American version, first published in 1940, as always used the term “Indian.” The stage version is sometimes titled “And Then There Were None.”

Hines — the owner of the GPH Consultants diversity training company and a reported long-time critic of the Lakota Local Schools system — implied he was going to lead a protest of the play, which was supposed to be performed this weekend. He told the Cincinnati Enquirer the play is about “genocide” and that “kids don’t have enough information about diversity.” Referring to the original name and artwork of the novel published overseas over 70 years ago, he told the Cincinnati Post, “We can’t run away from that.” He said, however, he would not oppose the play being done by a community or professional theater group.

Lakota Board of Education president Joan Powell, referring to Hines’ past criticism of the school system, told the Enquirer she believed Hines’ financial goals may influence his actions.

Superintendent Mike Taylor today said the play will be performed next month, but with changes. It will be performed under its alternative title, contain unspecified additional material and will feature what the Associated Press describes as “conversations and other activities” that Taylor said will “honor diversity in the community.”

Also unspecified is any participation by Hines — paid or unpaid — in the school’s new diversity-related programming.

“To claim that harm will be caused by students re-creating a 1939 Agatha Christie novel, via a theatre production, is the height of political correctness run amuck,” said Project 21 member Joe Hicks. “The trajectory of this nation’s racial and ethnic relations has produced a radically altered ethnic and racial landscape. Today, America is the most tolerant industrial society in the world. The assumption that some imaginary hoops have to be jumped through to avoid hurting the feelings of some ultra-sensitive individuals with defined political agendas is simply incorrect.”

Project 21 chairman Mychal Massie added: “This ridiculous capitulation further compromises what was already a grotesque abrogation of the students’ creative environment. The Lakota Local Schools is attempting to straddle the fence of racial intimidation. Those innocent school children have the right to their creative enterprise without being subjected to race mongers who are intent on inculcating their condemnable agendas. Instead of coming down on the side of common sense, the school district signaled their willingness to support this person’s malevolence.”

Christmas Tree Back Despite Liberal Whining

A Christmas tree that had been removed from the atrium of Strong Hall at Missouri State University will return, along with other religious holiday symbols in that building, school president Michael T. Nietzel said in a news release Thursday morning.A meeting that had been scheduled Friday to discuss appropriate MSU holiday decorations has been canceled, he said.

“We decided this is the right thing to do, and I am glad there was widespread agreement about it,” Nietzel said in the release. “Missouri State is an institution at which many different religions are represented, and we try to be sensitive to the many views people hold.”

“After having had a chance to air this out a bit more and consider the various perspectives of our campus community, I am happy that the Christmas tree will be back up along with the many others that were already on campus. I hope we can have it on display before the end of the day.”

The 20-foot artificial tree had been taken down Monday after Lorene Stone, dean of the College of Humanities and Public Affairs, was told by the co-chair of the president’s diversity commission that a Jewish faculty member said the tree showed “a lack of sensitivity” to those of other religions.

Courts have ruled that Christmas trees are secular symbols, along with the Jewish menorah.

Once again, stupidity tries to win out but is overcome. Once again we see that if ONE person complains that action must be taken. But when ONE person complains about the action that resulted it is not given the same weight as the one, snot nosed, liberal that complained in the first place. Meetings must be held and people must be consulted. And if you are lucky, that ONE person that is offended by other people’s religious displays is dealt with by the display being returned.

When we start basing actions on one person being offended, it only generates and infitite loop of reaction. If we hold the same standard that is. Because you being offended by the Christmas tree and getting it taken down results in my being offended at the tree being removed. If equality plays out then the tree has to be put back. Then you are offended again and the tree has to be taken down. Then I am offended and the tree goes back up …

Myths About the “Jena 6”

I just thought this was an interesting read to help set the record straight:

Jena, La. - By now, almost everyone in America has heard of Jena, La., because they’ve all heard the story of the “Jena 6.” White students hanging nooses barely punished, a schoolyard fight, excessive punishment for the six black attackers, racist local officials, public outrage and protests – the outside media made sure everyone knew the basics.There’s just one problem: The media got most of the basics wrong. In fact, I have never before witnessed such a disgrace in professional journalism. Myths replaced facts, and journalists abdicated their solemn duty to investigate every claim because they were seduced by a powerfully appealing but false narrative of racial injustice.

I should know. I live in Jena. My wife has taught at Jena High School for many years. And most important, I am probably the only reporter who has covered these events from the very beginning.

The reason the Jena cases have been propelled into the world spotlight is two-fold: First, because local officials did not speak publicly early on about the true events of the past year, the media simply formed their stories based on one-side’s statements – the Jena 6. Second, the media were downright lazy in their efforts to find the truth. Often, they simply reported what they’d read on blogs, which expressed only one side of the issue.

The real story of Jena and the Jena 6 is quite different from what the national media presented. It’s time to set the record straight.

Myth 1: The Whites-Only Tree. There has never been a “whites-only” tree at Jena High School. Students of all races sat underneath this tree. When a student asked during an assembly at the start of school last year if anyone could sit under the tree, it evoked laughter from everyone present – blacks and whites. As reported by students in the assembly, the question was asked to make a joke and to drag out the assembly and avoid class.

Jessie Jackson and all you other race baiters please call your offices! Guess after the Duke rape prosecutions fell apart all your shysters needed another event ginned up to make yourselves more important than you really are huh?

English girl barred from Government job…because she is wrong kind of white

By MARK NICOL

A teenage science student has been banned from applying for a training programme with the Environment Agency because she is white and English.The recruitment agency handling the scheme told Abigail Howarth, 18, that there was no point in her submitting an application because of her ethnic background.

But bizarrely she could have applied if she had been white and Welsh, Scottish or Irish.

The Voice

Black Activists Applaud Supreme Court Ruling

For Release: June 28, 2007
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org

Black Activists Applaud Supreme Court Ruling
Against Racial Preferences

Washington, D.C. - Today’s U.S. Supreme Court ruling against the use of racial preferences in public school admissions is being hailed by members of the Project 21 black leadership network as a necessary step in breaking down existing racial resentment and promoting true equal access to educational opportunity.

“It’s refreshing that the Supreme Court decided race-based admission standards are unconstitutional,” said Project 21 fellow Deneen Borelli. “Racial quotas are harmful because they reinforce resentment towards minorities and increases racial tensions. Parental judgment and educational needs should be the basis for choosing what schools children should attend.”

The ruling combined two cases: Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 (Washington) and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (Louisville, Kentucky). In the Seattle case, school administrators implemented an enrollment quota of 40 percent white and 60 percent minority in each high school to reflect the racial makeup of the overall student body. In Louisville, all schools must have between 15 percent and 50 percent black enrollment, forcing parents to rank which schools they would prefer their children to attend. In both cases, there are students who must travel great distances to get to the schools selected for them.

Referee Racism in Pro Basketball?

For Release: May 4, 2007
Contact: David Almasi at (202) 543-4110 x11 or dalmasi@nationalcenter.org

Referee Racism in Pro Basketball?

Black Activists Skeptical of New Study

Washington, D.C. - Black activists charged today that premature release of a new study claiming a racial bias by NBA referees will unnecessarily incite racial tensions.

Business professor Justin Wolfers of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and Joseph Price, a graduate student of economics at Cornell University, are scheduled to release a study at the annual meeting of the Society of Labor Economists May 4 and the American Law and Economics Association May 6. The study, which purports to analyze 600,000 foul calls over 13 seasons, claims the rate of fouls called against a player can rise by up to 4.5 percent if the team of three referees contains one or more members of another race.

Wolfers told the New York Times, “Basically, it suggests that if you spray-painted one of your starters white, you’d win more games.”

The Wolfers-Price study has not yet undergone peer review and is not yet scheduled for publication in a professional economics journal.

A National Basketball Association-commissioned study that is smaller in scope conflicts with Wolfers-Price study’s conclusions. It finds no bias among referees.

“Racism continues to generate headlines regardless of its plausibility. The only thing this study proves is that if you shout racism you can get national media attention,” says Project 21 Fellow Deneen Borelli.

“The authors of this study should be fouled out for exploiting racism,” added Borelli. “Who would have thought the term racism would be applied to a game dominated by black players making millions of dollars? Referees earn their position after years of training and working through the ranks of competitive officiating. The coaches, players, fans, announcers and video replay constantly scrutinize calls made by a referee. They are paid for their professionalism, expertise and judgment to referee games accurately and not to selectively color-code their calls.”

Rod Thorn, president of the New Jersey Nets, who is black, cast doubt on the Wolfers-Price study’s findings, telling the Times: “I don’t believe it. I think officials get the vast majority of calls right.”

Black player Mike James of the Minnesota Timberwolves says of the alleged bias, “I’ve never seen it.”

“The human element is the difference between real sports and fantasy sports. There should be equal enforcement of laws and rules, but we are not living in utopia,” says Project 21 member Council Nedd. “One cannot commit a foul - or break a law for that matter - and then be surprised if they are caught and penalized accordingly.”

Yale law professor Ian Ayres, who examined the Wolfers-Price and NBA studies for the Times, exemplified a predilection for finding racism in our society when he claimed the bias is subconscious. Commenting about alleged racism in the NBA, Ayres said: “I would be more surprised if it didn’t exist. There’s a growing consensus that a large proportion of racialized decisions is not driven by any conscious race decisions… When you force people to make snap decisions, they often can’t keep themselves from subconsciously treating blacks different than whites, men different from women.”

“Professor Ayres shows his own bias by automatically assuming whites and men are aggressors,” noted Project 21’s Borelli. “The study he supports, however, says that bias in the NBA can be black-on-white as easily as white-on-black. Is Professor Ayres willing to admit he may have a bias of his own toward white-on-black racism to the extent he has to explain the alleged animosity as subconscious?”

Project 21, a nonprofit and nonpartisan organization sponsored by the National Center for Public Policy Research, has been a leading voice of the African-American community since 1992.