Civil & Human Rights

‘With all deliberate speed’: 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education on May 17

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The events of recent weeks have made it clear that, despite what Chief Justice John Roberts and the conservative activist Justices of the U.S. Supreme Court would have Americans believe, racism is alive and well in the United States. We are not a color-blind society.

While racism today is rarely expressed in the overt manifestations from our shameful past (KKK cross burnings, lynchings, police brutality), it still manifests itself in numerous more subtle ways no less damaging to the human soul, and is a stain upon our national creed: “We hold these truths to be self evident, that all men are created equal …”

TopekaJournalSaturday, May 17th marks the 60th Anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, 347 U.S. 483 (May 17, 1954), acknowledged as one of the greatest U.S. Supreme Court decisions of the 20th century. The Court unanimously held that “We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The Court ordered the desegregation of public schools “with all deliberate speed.”

Although the Brown decision did not succeed in fully desegregating public education in the United States, it did put the Constitution on the side of racial equality and galvanized the nascent civil rights movement into a full revolution which culminated with the enactment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968.

PBS has an excellent resource guide for students and teachers. 60th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education resources.

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They’re baaack! The Christian Taliban wants ‘show me your papers before you pee’ at TUSD

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JesusFacepalm2They’re baaack! The Christian Taliban that pushed SB 1062, the religious bigots right to discriminate bill, through the Arizona legislature this year — only to be vetoed by Governor Brewer, and that had Rep. John Kavanagh (R-Fountain Hills) sponsor a strike everything amendment to SB 1045 that failed last year, the “show me your papers before you pee” bill aimed at transgenders, are back at it again.

This time these ignorant, fearful and hateful bigots want to traumatize young children in the TUSD school district who are transgender, as if life hasn’t already dealt them enough issues to deal with at such an early age. These bigots are still crusading with their “show me your papers before you pee” fear mongering. Group urging TUSD to act on transgender issue with restrooms:

The Alliance Defending Freedom, a nonprofit legal organization that advocates for the rights of people to freely practice their religion, sent a letter to Tucson Unified School District on Thursday urging  TUSD to prevent transgender children from using the restroom they identify with, saying such a practice could “severely impair an environment conducive to learning” — a recommendation that TUSD Superintendent H.T. Sanchez and members of the school board are disregarding.

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Arizona Daily Star Declares ‘War on Women’ Over

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War on WomenRecently the Arizona Daily Star announced that it would bow to crank letter-writers from Green Valley and make its editorial pages more “balanced”– in others words, more conservative.  The editors announced that they would publish fewer cartoons by brilliant local commentator David Fitzsimmons and more national cartoons, as well as additional syndicated  columnists to flesh out their lineup of insufferable right-wingers including Charles Krauthammer and George F. Will.

First of all, despite what retiree letter-writers believe, the Arizona Daily Star hasn’t been the “Red Star” in years. A death knell sounded for the Star a few years ago when they laid off dozens of employees, many of whom were writers. Funny how that happens: fewer reporters = less news. Not long after that, the Star reduced the physical page size; eliminated the metro section; started printing press releases verbatim; initiated front-page ads, advertising stickers, and other annoying advertising gimmicks;  and, worst of all, began ignoring real local news (like the Tucson City Council meetings) in favor of feel-good front page stories and wire service fodder.

The editors lost no time in instituting new right wing editorial content.  On Thursday the Star ran a John-Kerry-bashing syndicated cartoon, four national editorials (three of which were conservative), and one local editorial about cheesy Facebook surveys. This is balanced?

The Thursday editorial that really raised my ire was: ‘War on women’ now it just a scattershot weapon.  In a nutshell, columnist Hanna Rosin claims that the War on Women was fabricated by Democrats who mounted major political ad campaigns featuring a handful of stupid Republicans talking about “legitimate rape” and sluts who want government to bankroll their promiscuous lifestyles. (No mention, of course, of the men who benefit from and encourage those promiscuous lifestyles.)

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Vulture capitalist Paul Singer, Martha McSally and same-sex marriage, oh my!

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You are all familiar with the billionaire bastard Koch brothers and their “Kochtopus” web of dark money organizations operating out of the state of Maricopa.  And you are familiar with the corrupt casino magnate Sheldon Adelson who uses the house winnings from his casino in Macao to try to buy elections here in America.

Now its time to get to know a lesser-known cohort of theirs, billionaire vulture capitalist Paul Singer. Paul E. Singer – SourceWatch:

PaulSingerPaul E. Singer, a former corporate lawyer, is “the founding partner of Elliott Associates . . . a hedge fund in business since 1977.

Mr. Singer is a self-described conservative libertarian who has given millions of dollars to Republican organizations that emphasize a strong military and support Israel.”

Singer is a member of the Board of Trustees of the neo-conservative think tank the Manhattan Institute for Policy Research; a “member of the boards of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs and of Commentary Magazine, and is on the Board of Advisors of the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University”, and a member of the Board of Fellows of Harvard Medical School.

Recipients of Singer’s contributions “include Progress for America ($1.5 million in contributions), a political advocacy group set up to advance the policies of the Bush administration; Swift Vets and P.O.W.’s for Truth; and the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs, which includes Vice President Dick Cheney and Richard N. Perle, an adviser to the former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, among its past and current advisory directors.”

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