I don't know this country anymore.

I started this blog years ago in the midst of Hurricane Katrina.  I was so upset about what was happening and I had to get my anger out somewhere, so I started writing about it.  My first post was on September 2, 2005.  Almost 13 years of posting--mostly about racial issues.  NEVER would I have thought it would have gotten as bad as this.  I thought Bush was bad, but compared to who is in the White House now, Bush looks exemplary, and I never thought I would say that.

I'm probably going to ramble but I have so many thoughts about what got us to this place.  For one, the racism and white supremacy that America has been built upon has always been there. Some white people want to say, "But oh, it's gotten sooo much better."  Bullshit.  Maybe for those of you who never have to fucking deal with it.  I am SICK of people saying "I don't see color."  Do you know how IGNORANT you sound?  I am SICK of people saying they are NOT racist, yet they DON'T SPEAK UP when their in-laws say racist shit.  If you don't speak up EVERY SINGLE TIME, then you are a coward who is complicit in furthering white supremacy.  You are putting your comfort and your relationships with white people ahead of the humanity of people of color by allowing them to put down people of color and not saying anything.  You are complicit in maintaining the status quo.

I don't understand people of color who voted for Donald Trump.  Is that some kind of internalized racism?  I don't understand white people who have people of color in their family who voted for Donald Trump.  Donald Trump is a straight up racist.  If you voted for Donald Trump, you knew he was a racist, therefore you supported his racism, which makes you a racist.  It's as simple as that.  If you hated Hillary Clinton, I don't care, but you didn't have to vote for a racist, sexist, misogynistic, lying, xenophobic bigot like Trump.  You knew what he was and voted for him anyway.  So that makes you responsible for the mess we're in now.

Trump will be forever defined as the one (I will NEVER refer to him as the POTUS) who traumatized infants and children and used them as pawns.  He will NEVER live this down.  And everyone around him who defends this will also pay the price. Some say that this time he crossed the line.  I believe he crossed the line a long time ago with his ridiculous birtherism accusations.  Yet the uneducated deplorables of this country felt he represented them (he actually doesn't give a flying fuck about them--he just likes the adulation, but they don't know any better).

Now the racists and bigots have come out from under their rocks and everyday you read about a person of color being harassed by some white loser who is unhinged.  It's already happened to me four times.  These people blame their lack of success on people of color, they're so threatened by successful people of color, they hate immigrants, they say immigrants are taking their jobs--okay, then if you're not willing to educate yourself, then go work in the fields, clean hotel rooms, but oh no, you're too good for that, huh?  These losers make me sick.  It's not surprising that most of the white college educated people voted for Clinton.

And for those of you who live in oblivion, happily living your lives, not worried about anything because you think it doesn't affect you, well, I hope that one day someone doesn't take away your rights.  You're living in a bubble, so don't say I didn't warn you if that bubble is popped some day.  I guess ignorance is bliss.

GOP Leaders Reveal Their True Colors

Since the latest bombshell that dropped last Friday in which Donald Trump bragged to Billy Bush during a break from "Access Hollywood" that he could grab women's genitals because he was a star (although he used much cruder language), there has been a mass exodus of Republican leaders who have either unendorsed or distanced themselves from Trump.  Paul Ryan has finally decided to no longer defend Trump (although he still endorses him).  Several Republican leaders have come out and endorsed Hillary Clinton.  Polls have shown that the likelihood that Clinton will be elected POTUS is widening and many pundits believe this election is effectively over.

Here is a question though.  Why is it just NOW that many of these leaders are dropping Trump like a hot potato?  Why are they so shocked at this behavior?  He has been shown to be this kind of person for a year now (actually, most of his adult life).  But just take a look at how he came into politics.  He falsely accused President Obama of not being born in the United States, and wouldn't let that go for years.  And although most Republicans knew that was ridiculous, they didn't forcefully go after Trump and disavow those statements.

When he announced his candidacy, he stated that Mexicans who immigrated here were murders and rapists.  Yet that still wasn't enough for Republicans to disavow him.

Then he announced that if he were elected President, he would ban all Muslims from entering the country.  Still, the Republican leadership, while uncomfortable with this rhetoric, still stood behind him.

When asked if he disavowed David Duke and the KKK, he claimed to not know who David Duke was and not know anything about white supremacist groups.  That should have been disqualifying right there.  But it wasn't.

Then Trump made disparaging statements about Judge Curiel, saying that he could not be impartial because he was Hispanic and his parents were from Mexico, implying that somehow he would automatically be biased.  Again, the Republican leadership was quick to criticize the comments, but still stood behind Trump.

After the Democratic National Convention, Trump criticized a Goldstar family, the Kahn family, who had lost their son, Capt. Humayan Kahn, in the Iraq War.  Trump implied that Mrs. Kahn wasn't speaking because perhaps she wasn't allowed to (because she was Muslim).  The public was up in arms about this, Republican leaders were aghast, yet they STILL stood behind Trump.

Trump goes to a mostly white rally and talks about how African-American and Latino lives are "hell" and says "What do you have to lose?" by voting for him.  Crickets from the Republican leadership.

After the first debate, it was revealed that when Trump owned the Miss Universe Pageant, he called Alicia Machado, then Miss Universe, "Miss Piggy" (because she had gained some weight) and "Miss Housekeeping" (because she was Latina).  Women everywhere were absolutely disgusted.  Yet still the Republican leadership defended Trump.

It wasn't until this final straw last Friday, the bragging about the sexual assault (presumably of white women) that many of the white men in the Republican leadership had had it.  Perhaps they didn't empathize with the previous disqualifying behaviors that Trump displayed.  Was it not enough when Trump said all those things about people of color and Muslims?  It appears that only when your own lives were touched, when it was about YOUR wives, YOUR mothers, YOUR daughters that you finally were moved to act.

This shows the GOP's true colors.  Republican leaders care only about themselves.  They don't give a damn about anyone else.  If they did, they would have stopped supporting Trump a long time ago.

What has our society come to?

This has been a very difficult week for our country.  First, we heard that Alton Sterling, an African-American man, was wrestled to the ground by two police officers then shot in the chest four times.  A bystander shot video of this, and other video showed that Sterling was unarmed at the moment he was shot.  Just a day later, Philando Castile, a cafeteria supervisor with no criminal record, was shot after a traffic stop for a broken taillight.  The horrific aftermath of the shooting was live streamed by his girlfriend.  First of all, when the police officer approached the car, he asked them to keep their hands up.  (Why?  I have NEVER been asked to keep my hands up when I've been stopped by the police.  NEVER!!!!!!!!)  Then he asked for Castile's license and registration.  Castile informed the officer that he had a firearm but was licensed to carry, and that he was just getting his wallet.  The officer said put your hands up, and when Castile did, the officer shot him.  What the fuck?!?!  In front of his girlfriend and his four-year-old daughter!  They are going to be traumatized for the rest of their lives!  This is murder!

People protested all over the country against what again is the unjustified killing of black people.  The Dallas Police Department, which by all accounts is a great department with a good relationship with the community, was there among the protesters, taking pictures with the people.  It was, by all accounts, a peaceful protest.  Then the unthinkable happened. A lone shooter with a rifle gunned down 11 police officers in a rampage of bullets, killing 5 and injuring 6.  One civilian was also injured.  He was despicable.  He wanted to kill white people, in particular, white officers.  There are those who want to link him to the Black Lives Matter movement, but in fact he was not part of that movement.  The Black Lives Matter movement is not about murdering police officers.  It's about justice and equitable treatment.  In fact, even some conservative media is beginning just now to realize that.  But not all.  And certainly, not all hearts and minds are there yet.

The bottom line is that as a society, we fear black people.  There is a stereotype that black people aren't to be trusted.  That they're scary.  Dangerous.  Why else do white people admit that they cross the street or hold on more tightly to their purse when they encounter a black person?  Why else do they say that it's not okay for black males to wear hoodies because of the perception of being a thug, but it's okay for white males?  Why else do white people call Richard Sherman, a Stanford graduate, a thug when he gets emotional on camera, yet Donald Trump who has said far worse things repeatedly, is the presumptive GOP presidential nominee?  Why else do white people call schools that have a large number of black and brown faces "ghetto" and "dangerous" when there is no evidence that they are either of those things?

Earlier this week, I wrote an article about institutionalized racism, white privilege and white fragility that was published in the Seattle Times.  Not surprisingly, I received a lot of hateful comments from professional right-wing trolls who called me "racist" and "loony".  They invited me to leave the country if I didn't like it here.  They equated the terms "white privilege" and "white fragility" with racial epithets.  And they criticized me, the Seattle Times and higher education for indoctrinating students with "lefty drivel".

The thing is, everything they did proved my point.  Their defensiveness was the ultimate in white fragility.  Everything that happened this week showed that black men are killed by police for no apparent reason.  The fact that the NRA has  yet to speak out about Castile's case (he had a concealed carry permit) speaks volumes about the fact that the NRA has a connection to a white racial identity (i.e. if you're a white gun owner you're a patriot, if you're a black gun owner, you're a thug).

I have gotten to the point that some of my friends have gotten to.  No coddling anymore.  No tiptoeing around the issues.  As long as people think they can get away with maintaining the status quo, they're going to do it.  Well, it's not going to happen around me.  Just saying.  It's not okay.  The status quo is not good enough anymore.

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Privilege and intersectionality

One thing that is always difficult to do is to explain white privilege to a white person who is broke.  I had a student who grew up poor, was raised by a single father who beat her, and who spent six years homeless.  She wasn't popular in high school and saw a lot of the black kids as the "cool" kids.  So when she took my class and had to watch a video about white privilege, I could understand why she was angry.  She couldn't see any "privilege" in her life and all that she could hear is people trying to make her feel guilty about being white.

The ability to understand white privilege really requires the ability to see things from a larger perspective; however, that is difficult to do when one's lived experience is such that everything else is stacked against them.  If people don't hold class privilege or educational privilege, it's extremely difficult to see the privileges they hold by virtue of their skin color when they see people of color who are in a higher socioeconomic class or who are better educated living more productive, more comfortable lives than them.

Intersectionality is the overlapping advantages and disadvantages that people have in their lives.  People may be advantaged in several areas but disadvantaged in others.  For example, a man may be white, a college-educated lawyer, blind, and gay.  Although he is advantaged in terms of gender, skin color, education and class, he is disadvantaged in terms of ability and sexual orientation.  A woman of color who is also a college-educated lawyer but able-bodied and heterosexual doesn't have the same advantages of gender and race, but is definitely advantaged by her sight and her sexual orientation.

So it's important that we talk about the many privileges that do exist.  Class privilege is definitely one that does exist, and often times it trumps white privilege.  A person of color from the upper class more than likely has the connections and the access to better job opportunities than a low income white person.  One need only look at the O.J. Simpson case to see how money was able to buy the best defense lawyers in the business and get an acquittal.  A white man who killed two people who couldn't afford Johnnie Cochran would probably be languishing in prison for the rest of his life.

There is able-bodied privilege.  People without a disability don't have to think twice about access to buildings.  They can move freely everywhere without having to plan in advance.  They can travel anywhere without having to make arrangements.  There are so many things that people with disabilities have to think about just to attend a public event that able-bodied people are completely oblivious to.  That's privilege.

Then there is heterosexual privilege.  Straight people don't have to worry about whether their sexual orientation will open them up for discrimination in the workplace.  Even though it is illegal to discriminate against LGBT people, many LGBT people still do not feel safe coming out of the closet for fear of being passed up for promotion or choice job opportunities.

And then there is male privilege.  Many women have experienced disparate treatment in their workplace because of their gender.  I still see all the time in the media how men interrupt women and talk over them as if somehow their voices are more important.

But getting back to white privilege.  Yes, there is such a thing in this country.  But we need to compare like with like.  For example, there was a recent case in which a white Stanford swimmer, Brock Turner, was convicted of three counts of rape.  The judge only sentenced him to six months in a county jail even though the prosecutors asked for six years in prison.  Yet this same judge sentenced a Salvadorean immigrant charged with rape to three years in a plea deal.  Brian Banks, an African-American football player, spent five years in prison for a rape he did not commit.

Statistics have shown that although blacks and whites use marijuana at the same rate, blacks are much more likely to be arrested for marijuana possession.  In fact, marijuana possession makes up nearly half of total drug arrests:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2013/06/04/the-blackwhite-marijuana-arrest-gap-in-nine-charts/

I challenge you to look around.  Look around a grocery store.  Look at magazine covers.  Look at greeting cards.  Look at billboards.  Watch TV.  What images do you see?  Are they predominantly white faces?  How many Asian faces do you see?  How many Black faces do you see?  How many Latino faces do you see?  How many Native American faces do you see?   Try to imagine yourself one of the above races.  Do you see yourself represented on a daily basis anywhere?

Privilege is often times being oblivious to the privilege you have.  Acknowledging white privilege is not about feeling guilty.  It's about addressing a system which has advantaged a group of people over another group of people for hundreds of years and continues to do so.  I know for a fact that there are people who acknowledge that heterosexual privilege exists, and that they even speak out on it, yet still struggle with the notion of white privilege.   Why is that?  Why can they see that straight people benefit from advantages that LGBT people don't, yet can't acknowledge that white people benefit from advantages that people of color don't?  There are studies that support this, yet somehow the knee-jerk reaction is to simply become defensive or silent.  I don't think there is anyone that would argue that being in the upper-class doesn't provide privileges that low-income people don't  have.  Yet when it comes to skin color privilege, people seem to have blinders on despite the preponderance of evidence that proves otherwise.

Talking about race and racism is something that is so difficult to talk about, and people tend to either NOT want to talk about it, get defensive about it, or get angry about it.  I am fortunate enough this quarter to have a cohort of students who, although admittedly are new to these types of conversations, are very open to learning about the issues and how they impact their future careers as teachers of diverse classrooms.

The Rise of Donald Trump: The Natural Result of Decades of Republican Racist Politics

We are living in scary times.  Back in 2008, I remember the unbridled joy with which much of America celebrated the election of Barack Obama, our first African-American president.  Tom and I went to Seattle and people were literally dancing and drumming in the streets.  People were hugging and the people all around us were so thrilled at this historic event.

But it didn't come easy.  The whole campaign was marred with racist innuendos.  Obama was accused of being Muslim (not that anything was wrong with being Muslim, but the accusation was meant as an insult).  He was accused of associating with terrorists.  His citizenship was called into question.  He was simultaneously accused of being "uppity" and mocked for being a "community organizer".  He received death threats while campaigning.  Michelle was compared to a gorilla.  The whole thing was extremely ugly.  Yet not only did Obama prevail and win, he won by a landslide.

While many of us celebrated, there were those who were really angry.  For white voters, particular those who weren't cosmopolitan or comfortable with diversity, Obama's election was a shock. "When coupled with the broad decline in incomes and living standards caused by the Great Recession, it seemed to signal the end of a hierarchy that had always placed white Americans at the top, delivering status even when it even when it couldn't give material benefits," writes Jamelle Bouie in Slate.com.

That night I read hateful things on my Facebook news feed.  One person said, "I think I'm going to vomit."  The next evening at soccer practice, one of my daughter's teammates stated, "We're going to die," presumably because Obama had been elected.  She was 10 at the time--I'm sure she was repeating what her parents had said.

Throughout President Obama's tenure, he has been treated with such disrespect.  From a Congressman yelling "You lie!" during his State of the Union address, to the Trump birther accusations, to the Republican obstructionism, Republicans have tried their hardest to delegitimize him.  Their latest ploy is their threat to block his Supreme Court nominee.  However, the majority of Americans feel this is the wrong thing to do, and that the highest court in the land should not go with only 8 justices for a year.

During all of this, moderate Republicans stayed silent.  Those who might have spoken out against this abhorrent behavior did not.  Many in fact engaged in this behavior as a wink and a nod to their constitutents.  How many Republicans were caught using racist language, or were found to be members of organizations that were known to have connections to white nationalist groups?

However, it was an unspoken rule that being openly racist was unacceptable.  However, Trump apparently feels he doesn't have to play by the same rules as everyone else.  He seems to not have any shame or embarrassment about saying things that most civilized people wouldn't say. He knows what these mostly white, mostly working class, mostly non-college-educated supporters are angry about and he manipulates these people and their anger by tapping into it and fanning the flames.  He doesn't provide answers--he just ratchets up the anger.  So now, these people somehow feel emboldened to wear their racism, xenophobia and bigotry proudly for the world to see.  It's frightening.

At one rally, a white man sucker-punched a young African-American man.  He was subsequently arrested for assault.  The violence visited upon protesters has continued to escalate.  In Chicago, people decided enough was enough and thousands of protesters showed up at the Trump rally, forcing Trump to cancel it.  It was interesting to note, however, that the Trump people had scheduled the rally to take place at the University of Illinois in Chicago, a campus that is 25% Latino, 25% Asian and 10% African-American.  Looks like he WANTED there to be violence.  Why else would he hold it there?  Trump is an attention whore--to him, media coverage is a good thing, regardless if it's good or bad.

So when Trump doesn't win the presidency, what's going to happen to all of these people who support Trump?  They've been very open now about their racism, their xenophobia.  Are they ever going to learn that they can't live in the 21st century hating everyone that doesn't look like them?  It' not going to work.

My two cents on "White Girlfriend in Barbershop" video

Apparently all of a sudden people have noticed that racism has existed in this world now that a white woman has become a "victim" in a staged scenario where an African-American hairdresser calls her out for being at a barbershop with her black boyfriend.  Reactions from the other black patrons range from sticking up for the white woman, to silence, to a diversity trainer trying to facilitate communication and understanding between the white woman and the hairdresser.

I don't have an issue with this video per se, but what I find interesting and somewhat disturbing is that it is THIS particular video that gets people riled up.  THIS is the video that goes viral and has white people sharing all over Facebook about racism.  And what is so ironic is that I have shared dozens upon dozens of posts on Facebook about racism towards people of color, and with the exception of the few people I can count on every time, I am met with...............silence.  And now all of a sudden this rah rah rah about this white woman in a barbershop?  And it's inspiring people to speak up about racism when they encounter it?

I can't tell you how many times I have spoken up about racist comments and racist behavior when I've encountered it only to have it cause conflict in my life.  That doesn't mean I'm going to stop doing it, but I know that people DON'T speak up because they're afraid.  They're afraid of confrontation.  And particularly as a person of color, I'm often the ONLY one in a room full of white people trying to explain my perspective, and people want to change the subject.  Or there's an awkward silence.  No one has a camera on me making a video that's going viral where a million people are going to say, "Good for Meg!  She spoke out against racism!"  Yet a couple of black women spoke up for a white woman and social media goes crazy!!!!

This blogger captured exactly how I feel, but from a white woman's perspective:
(Taken from Why "White Girlfriend Enters Black Barbershop" Makes Me Uncomfortable)

"This outpouring of support for this video – found in hashtags like #colorblind, or comments like ‘inspiring!’ ‘let’s move forward to combat racism,’ or ‘I got teary-eyed’ — almost all from White folks, makes me feel uncomfortable. It really does.

“Why?!” you might ask.  ”Aren’t you dating a Black man?!” others yelp.  There is an expectation that I, as a White woman, would revel in this demonstration of Black folks ‘sticking up for me’ (in the majority of cases), or even worse, be pleased with those who failed to intervene, who illustrate just how hard it is out there for us white women.

NO.

It’s really not hard out here in these streets for White women.  Actually, it’s pretty damn easy.  Yes, as women, we are oppressed in many ways.  There are double standards, there are oppressive gender norms, there are republicans attacking our reproductive rights at every turn.  But y’know what?  Those issues effect all women, and generally have a disproportionately more negative impact on women of color, who often lack the resources and privilege to overcome these barriers.  So let’s skip that part.

We navigate this world with White skin, which has afforded us a wealth of privilege from birth.  It has allowed us historical privilege which allowed many of our families to accumulate wealth in the form of assets that simply were not avenues available to Black or Brown families.  It has afforded us the ability to embody our identity as individuals, to never speak as a monolith for our ‘group’ of white people, and to be considered the ‘default’ conception of ‘American’ in almost every situation.  We have benefited immensely from the material, structural, and social privileges that come with white skin.

So why are we SO freakin’ pumped about this video?

It’s almost as if people feel that this video is empowering to White folks.  Let’s talk about some of the reasons White people, consciously or not, are excited about this video:

1. Ohmygod, it shows that love is colorblind! That’s such a cute narrative.  ”I don’t see color. It doesn’t matter if you’re white, brown, purple, orange, or green.”

2. Look at us White people!!! We are so advanced and generous.  You see, we won’t just DATE Black folks, we will take shit for ‘em too!  Poor old white girls, we just have to sit there and take it from those ANGRY BLACK WOMEN! We are pretty much saints.

3. It confirms the narrative that REVERSE RACISM IS REAL!  I mean look, they only set up ‘real life situations that could happen’ on these shows, which demonstrates that if us White people try to do something like get into a relationship with a non-White person, WE JUST FACE SO MUCH OPPRESSION!!!

These are all problematic.  If you’re one of the women or men who is just so progressive that you don’t even see color… well, then you may well be failing to acknowledge and honor a major part of a person’s identity and experience navigating this world.  Secondly, this video reinforces the perception that there are a ton of Black women out there who are just sitting, stewing, getting angry about all the White women who “take away” their Black men, who are just waiting to spew hatred on the first interracial couple they see.  This is a harmful perception, it is reductive, and I don’t think that we should be reinforcing it on TV – nor should we be crafting white women into the martyr of the show.

Lastly, this little social experiment lends false credibility to the idea that reverse racism is real.  We won’t get into the multitude of reasons that this just patently isn’t true, but this video is dangerous.  And people’s love for it is dangerous too.  But why? Aren’t people just excited that Black folks are taking a stand against all this hate on the White woman?

The problem is, whether Black folks rallied to defend this White woman, or sat in uncomfortable silence, isn’t the point.  The point is that this video reinforces the narrative that reverse racism is real, and that White folks are unjustly and undeservingly oppressed and discriminated against by Black folks.  Maybe this seems like an insignificant example, I mean, it’s just a little barbershop experiment, right?  But it lends credibility and strength to the idea that these cases are happening everywhere, and that this is just the beginning.  That Black and Brown folks are oppressing us White folks in other ways, like how we’re now discriminated against in the workplace or college admissions processes because of affirmative action.

As a White woman who is in a relationship with a Black man, I remain a privileged person.  If I am in a barbershop and a woman – White or Black – begins to give me shit because of my relationship, do you know what I can do?  I can get angry and I can yell at her, because I don’t need to worry that if the police come, myself or my friends may be roughed up, searched without cause, or injured simply because of the color of my skin.  I don’t have to worry that all of those around me will just see my outrage at her comments just as a product of me being a White woman, not because of my individual anger and hurt at her comments.

White folks embrace and excitement of this video simply makes me uncomfortable.  This is my truth.  For those who shared it, I wonder why it struck you as so deeply important.   I wonder why it took this instance – of a white woman being discriminated against – to care deeply.  Maybe it’s because you’re happy that Black folks stuck up for her, and think that it is a tribute to how ‘evolved’ we have all become on race.  But then I wonder why I don’t see you regularly posting ‘what would you do’ videos of Black and Brown folks being discriminated against and White folks reactions – whether good or bad.

At the end of the day, I’m simply left with a pit of discomfort in my stomach, and a lot of questions about why a White woman’s discrimination and ‘rescue’ have moved so many. Perhaps us White folks should begin to try to answer those questions, no matter how painful the answers may be."

Jon Husted's Attempts at Voter Suppression Amount to Government-Sanctioned Discrimination

"I guess I really actually feel we shouldn’t contort the voting process to accommodate the urban — read African-American — voter-turnout machine. Let’s be fair and reasonable." - Jon Husted, Ohio Secretary of State

If you've been following what is going on in Ohio, you know that Ohio voters still do not know whether they will be able to vote during the three days before the election, something they have been able to do since 2005.

Ever since the Ohio election debacle in 2004, when voters stood in the rain and cold for 10 hours to vote because there were not enough voting machines, and still not everyone was able to vote, the county election boards decided to extend voting hours and to also allow voters to vote the three days before Election Day.  This alleviated the long lines.  This has worked since 2005.

In 2004, George W. Bush won Ohio, but in 2008, Barack Obama won the Buckeye State.

So now Jon Husted, the Republican Secretary of State, is doing everything in his power to suppress Democratic votes.  And his actions are very transparent.  Originally, he was only allowing early voting for military personnel (who typically vote Republican).  Disallowing early voting would have had a disproportional effect on those who lived in the urban areas which were more densely populated and also tended to vote more Democratic.  His actions have already been overturned by a Federal Judge. The judge filed a preliminary injunction against Husted, forbidding him from eliminating the three early days of voting, yet he has ignored the judge's decision and has decided to appeal to the Supreme Court.

Everyone has the constitutional right to vote.  Clearly, Husted is willing to contort the voting process that has been in place since 2005 to make it very, very difficult for Democrats, and specifically, African-Americans, to vote.  His intentions are obvious.  He has stated it now.  Everyone should be absolutely outraged by his actions, which amount to government-sanctioned discrimination.

First of all, it is NOT Mr. Husted's job to do whatever it takes to make sure a particular candidate wins.  His job is to make sure the election is fair.  How can he say he is doing the fair thing if this is the way that elections have been run for the past seven years and there has not been an issue with it before?  Let the people decide whether Mitt Romney or Barack Obama would be the better president.  Is he that unsure about his party's candidate that he has to rely on these deceitful, dishonest tactics to undermine the voting process?  Let everyone cast their vote.  This is absolutely despicable.  Mr. Husted, you should be ashamed of yourself.

No daylight between Todd Akin and Paul Ryan

Yesterday, Rep. Todd Akin (R-Missouri) made a statement which caused a huge negative reaction in the media and on social networks.  When asked in an interview if abortion should be legal in the case of rape, he responded, "From what I understand from doctors, that's really rare," (referring to pregnancy caused by rape). "If it's a legitimate rape, the female body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down. But let's assume maybe that didn't work or something. I think there should be some punishment, but the punishment ought to be on the rapist, and not attacking the child."

He later said he misspoke, however, the damage was done.  The Romney campaign rebuked Akin's comments, calling them insulting and inexcusable.  Some Republicans have called for Akin to exit the Senate race against Democratic incumbent, Claire McCaskill.  His controversial comment was the topic of conversation on every political news program.

Looking closely at his words, nowhere does he take into consideration the woman, the rape victim.  He doesn't consider the physical and emotional trauma that the victim has suffered.  And interestingly enough, Republican Vice-Presidential Candidate Paul Ryan's stance on abortion is exactly the same.

Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisconsin) has been a member of the U.S. House of Representatives since 1999. He has a long anti-choice record from his years in Congress.

• During his time in the House, Rep. Ryan has cast 59 votes on abortion and other reproductive-rights issues. All of these votes were anti-choice. 
• He cosponsored “personhood” legislation that is so extreme that, if passed, it would ban abortion care in almost all cases, including rape or incest.
• He cosponsored a measure that would force a woman to undergo an ultrasound before she can receive abortion care, even if her doctor doesn't recommend it and even if it is against the woman’s will.
• He has repeatedly voted to deny funding to Planned Parenthood.

Rep. Ryan has been outspoken on his anti-choice views:

• “I’m as pro-life as a person gets. You’re not going to have a truce. Judges are going to come up. Issues come up, they’re unavoidable, and I’m never going to not vote pro-life.”

I know that there are many who also are extreme in their pro-life positions, who do not believe in abortion, even in the case of rape or incest.  However, I would pose a question to these people.  What if your 12, 13, or 14-year-old daughter were raped?  What if she were to become pregnant from that rape?  Would you really force her to carry that pregnancy to term?  What if she became pregnant because someone in your family raped her?  Would you force her to carry that pregnancy to term--a pregnancy that was a result of incest?

It's very easy to hold convictions when you really think it's never going to happen to you.  But when these issues become personal, I believe that people begin to think twice.  I don't believe that issues are black and white.

What I find so ironic is that those who shout the loudest about abortion and want to take away a woman's right to choose are those who also want government to stay out of people's personal lives in other arenas (i.e. guns).  If these people don't believe in abortion, then DON'T HAVE AN ABORTION!!!  But don't take away a woman's right to have an abortion if she feels that is in her best interest, and ESPECIALLY if she's been raped, or the victim of incest, or she will die if she doesn't have an abortion!!!

Perhaps Romney disagrees with what Todd Akin said, but I wonder whether Paul Ryan disagrees.  And if not, will women want to vote for a ticket that takes away their rights?

The Test You Can't Fail

I met a woman from New York on Facebook who creates art related to diversity. She shared a very interesting article--actually a test--by Molly Secours that I think really drives the point home regarding white privilege. I hope that people begin to really think about what white privilege is, because right now, there is such a racial divide in our country between those who see so clearly the racial injustices that happen in our society, and those who deny that racism exists. The ultimate white privilege is to not have to talk about race, and those who would like to sweep the racial aspect of the Trayvon Martin case under the rug are exerting their white privilege.

Here's the test. You can't fail, and you may discover something about yourself.

Take the White Privilege Pop Quiz for Trayvon Martin: It's the Test You Can't Fail

Why You Should Care About the Trayvon Martin Case

I'm going to ask you a question. What if Trayvon Martin was YOUR child?

Oh I know, I know. Some of you can't imagine it. Because of the privilege that you may not even be fully aware of, you think this will NEVER happen to you. You can't imagine YOUR child ever being treated like a worthless piece of meat. So you don't really put yourselves in the shoes of Trayvon Martin's parents, and you don't TRULY feel the pain of Trayvon Martin's parents. You go on with your lives, knowing that this will NEVER happen to me. But just for a moment, imagine if this happened to YOUR child:

YOUR child is walking home from going to the local convenience store to pick up some Skittles and an iced tea for his/her younger sibling. You live in what you believe to be a "safe" neighborhood. A gated community.

YOUR child, who is only 17 years old, is followed by a 28-year-old. He/she is scared. The adult is following him/her. YOUR child runs. The adult pursues him/her. There is an altercation. YOUR child screams for help. And YOUR child is shot in the chest.

The police department does a cursory investigation.

The police department tests YOUR child for drugs and alcohol, but does not test the shooter.

The shooter is released because he claims self-defense, although he is the one who pursued YOUR child, and he is 100 pounds heavier than YOUR child, and it was YOUR child that was screaming for help.

The police department waits THREE days to inform you that your child is dead. YOUR child is laying in the morgue dead.

The police department withholds 911 tapes that provide important evidence.

The shooter is not a registered neighborhood watch captain, but a self-proclaimed neighborhood watch captain.

The shooter has been told not to pursue YOUR child, but ignores the orders and continues to pursue YOUR child. And this shooter is not a police officer, nor a registered neighborhood watch captain, but a regular citizen.

How would YOU feel?

Now if you don't already feel empathy for Trayvon Martin's parents, your blood must run ice cold.

But there is the additional element of racial animus in this case. George Zimmerman had a history of calling 911 46 times and being obsessed with looking out for young black men in his neighborhood. He stated in the 911 tapes that Trayvon was "up to no good" (he was walking home from the convenience store) and that he looked like he was on drugs. Then he also stated that "they always get away" and there is a portion of the tape that sounds like he says "f**king coons".

Why didn't the Sanford Police Department arrest George Zimmerman? How is this police department complicit in this case? Is this their brand of southern justice? If George Zimmerman had been black and Trayvon Martin had been white, would George Zimmerman have been arrested? (I think we all know the answer to that.)

A million people have signed the petition to fully investigate this case. This is about justice. In the public school system, we say the Pledge of Allegiance every morning. We recite the words, "with liberty and justice for all". Those words do not ring true if things like this still happen in America.

If you don't care about this, and speak out about it, who is going to speak out when YOUR child is marginalized in some way? What if your child ended up being killed because he or she was gay? Or lesbian? Or disabled? Or disfigured? Or for some other reason? And what if no one cared?

Thoughts on the Trayvon Martin case

As I follow the media coverage on the Trayvon Martin case, I am disgusted by the inaction by the Sanford Police Department. I am glad there is now a federal investigation into the case, and I pray that charges will be filed against George Zimmerman.

Not surprisingly, FOX News has only one article covering this story. I guess it doesn't fit with their narrative that everyone has the right to own a gun.

Thank God for social media. If it were not for social media, no one would have known about this story. But because millions of people have been so outraged by this case, it has become a cause, and people will not be quiet about it until a full investigation is done and justice is served.

For those who think racism no longer exists, I think it is sad commentary on our society that a young black 17-year-old boy cannot walk home with a bag of Skittles without being considered suspicious. I find it pathetic when people assume that if you are a young black man, you are automatically considered suspect, but if you are a young white man, you are automatically given a pass. I am irritated beyond belief when there is a newspaper story about a black person committing a crime and tons of comments are made about how ALL black people are thugs, yet when a white person commits a crime, it's attributed to his mental status, not his race. Ever. And the gun rights defenders continue to scream about the 2nd amendment. Even when something like this happens.

How about the white sergeant who killed all of those Afghan civilians? The narrative is still about wondering if he was mentally stable, trying to find an excuse for why he did it. How about those civilians who died? What if an Afghan soldier opened fire on a bunch of white American civilians, including women and children? Would Americans be trying to find out if he was mentally stable? Probably not. They would want him executed. Just saying. No one would care why.

Today on the Thom Hartmann radio show, there was a great discussion about how the NRA and the media panders to the fear in white men, and as a result there's this love of guns in this country, which has resulted in deaths of innocent people. There's even a law in several states in which a person can "stand their ground" and can kill someone if they come into their home, and they have a feeling that they're being threatened. Is this a law that gives white people a license to shoot young black men if they feel "threatened" by them, without threat of legal action? And why do I have the sneaking suspicion that if a black man felt threatened by a white man, and shot him, the law would have no problem arresting that black man and charging him with a crime--and the "stand your ground" law would not ever come into play? Anyway, from witness accounts, Zimmerman was NOT the victim here--Martin was the one crying for help, and Zimmerman was the one on top of Martin--he had a good 100 pounds on Martin.

The only crime Martin committed was walking around a white neighborhood while being young and black and having a stupid moronic policeman wannabe like Zimmerman see him.

Why President Obama Tiptoes Around Race

I was in the car tonight, driving to pick my son up from Tae Kwon Do. I almost exclusively listen to talk radio in the car, and tonight was no exception. I turned to KOMO News Radio and was listening to an excerpt of an interview of Barack Obama by Diane Sawyer.

Somehow the conversation turned to the issue of the GOP debates. Sawyer asked President Obama if he felt that the candidates were saying things to gin up racial resentment. I found it interesting, but not surprising, that President Obama avoided talking about race. He didn't answer the question in racial terms, but rather redirected the answer and said that it would be up to the voters to decide what type of President they wanted. Sawyer kept asking the President the same race-related question in different ways, and in fact even said, "Don't want to go there, huh?" And he didn't go there. Ever.

Because President Obama doesn't benefit from white privilege as other presidents did, he cannot talk about race without being accused of playing the race card. While former President Clinton often talked openly and honestly about racial issues, and was often referred to as the first "black" president because he was very in tune with the African-American community, President Obama has had to essentially pretend that race is never an issue in any circumstance in order to appease white voters. President Clinton, because he benefited from white privilege, was able to talk about racism without being seen as self-interested or self-seeking. When he declared there was a racial issue at hand--in fact, when any white person declares there is a racial issue at hand, their race lends them more credibility for that position than a person of color will have. ("White Privilege: Unpacking the Invisible Knapsack" by Peggy McIntosh, 1988). Tim Wise says it best in this essay from March 6, 2008:

"More importantly, to the extent Obama’s success has been largely contingent on his studious avoidance of the issue of race–such that he rarely ever mentions discrimination and certainly not in front of white audiences–one has to wonder just how seriously we should take the notion that racism is a thing of the past, at least as supposedly evidenced by his ability to attract white votes? To the extent those whites are rewarding him in large measure for not talking about race, and to the extent they would abandon him in droves were he to begin talking much about racism–for he would be seen at that point as playing the race card, or appealing to “special interests” and suffer the consequences–we should view Obama’s success, given what has been required to make it possible, as confirmation of the ongoing salience of race in American life. Were race really something we had moved beyond, whites would be open to hearing a candidate share factual information about housing discrimination, racial profiling, or race-based inequities in health care. But we don’t want to be reminded of those things. We prefer to ignore them, and many are glad that Obama has downplayed them too, whether by choice, or necessity."

Thoughts on the First Day of my Ninth Year Teaching EDUC240

For nine years now, I have been teaching EDUC240 at Green River Community College, "Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias Issues in Education". When I first started teaching this class it was geared towards preservice Early Childhood Education teachers. We discussed diversity in the framework of an Early Childhood Classroom. Over the years, I redesigned the course to accommodate preservice K-12 teachers--about half the students now are those who already have their Bachelors Degree and are taking the course as a prerequisite to the Masters in Teaching Program at the University of Washington and other universities.

Over the course of these nine years, I have seen some major changes in attitudes. I think these attitudes reflect some of the attitudes in our society. In general, I think that the students coming into the class have been more savvy about diversity-related issues which has made the conversations much more deep and meaningful.

In 2003, when I first started teaching the course, no one had heard of white privilege. I think possibly that may have been due to the fact that most people only hear about the concept of white privilege in academic environments, and most of my students in the early years were coming from owning their own daycares or coming from high school. Because of this lack of knowledge, and because of the nature of white privilege, most white people are oblivious to their own privilege and therefore deny its existence, this was a very difficult subject because of all of the resistance. Once we opened up the class to those who had already been to college, many had heard of white privilege in a sociology class. This made the discussions about it much easier, as there were many people aware of its existence and able to share concrete examples of it from their own lives. Also, having white allies in the classroom who confirmed the existence of white privilege, rather than having just me (a person of color) claiming the existence of white privilege went a long way in bolstering the argument (which just goes to show how white privilege works). Another helpful tool was the addition of the video, "White Privilege 101" in which dozens of people, whites and people of color, talk about what white privilege is and give concrete examples of how it manifests itself in their lives. This year, anti-racist activist Tim Wise came to University of Washington Tacoma to speak about white privilege and he is a white male who speaks eloquently and powerfully about white privilege from a white male's point of view. He is quite aware that because of his privilege, as white AND male, people listen to him about the concept of white privilege. He has said that when people of color can fill rooms and will be listened to when talking about white privilege, maybe then we will have arrived. That time has not yet come though. So until that day comes, I have my students watch YouTube videos of Tim Wise.

The other area in which I saw a change in attitude was sexual orientation. I actually first co-taught the class in 1996 with the director of the Early Childhood Education department. I remember talking about issues around sexual orientation and the pushback we got. Most of it was from those who were opposed to bringing up anything around sexual orientation because of their own religious beliefs. Now when we talk about sexual orientation issues, most people are quite aware that there are many LGBT people with children and that they deserve to be treated with the same dignity and respect as any other parent. There is also much awareness of the tragic situations around anti-gay bullying and the resultant suicides that have happened. I believe that people have become much more intolerant of homophobia in the school environment. It's not that homophobia doesn't exist, I just think that someone who is outwardly homophobic now is going to be persona non grata in an educational environment, so it is not something I am seeing among my students.

Anyway, I love teaching this class. What I particularly love is when I see students of mine who I run into a year later who tell me that they were so inspired by the class that they changed their major. One of my students who really struggled initially with the content of the class ran into me at the latest Diversity Conference. She is now majoring in Early Childhood Education with a focus on Diversity Issues! She is committed to Social Justice and recently had some racist images taken off of the wall at a school in Auburn! Woohoo! This is why I love doing what I do!

"Ghetto" is not an adjective

One of the projects I assign my students in my Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias Issues in Education Class is to research articles on diversity issues in education and compile them in a Resource File that they can refer to later in their careers as educators. One of my students found this article and shared it with me. I found it very interesting because over and over again, I've heard subtle (and not so subtle) comments about the different schools in the Federal Way School District, and most recently, the school we are sending our child to.

The article my student sent me was written by a woman in Kent whose daughter chose to go to Kent-Meridian High School because of the International Baccalaureate program there. The mother admitted to having trepidation because she had limited experience with people of color and heard that it was "scary". Some would not send their children there because of the way it "looked". Yet once the mother went to the school, she had a completely different attitude, and is thankful that her daughter has experienced being with such a diverse student body. She feels that her daughter is more prepared for the reality of a more diverse society and she found that the school is very respectful in the way that people treat each other, not the place of horror stories that everyone assumed it was.

Just recently, someone questioned why we were sending our son to Federal Way High School, calling it a "ghetto" school. It is amazing to me that this person said this, given the fact that of all the Federal Way high schools, it is ranked the highest on Newsweek's list of top high schools in the United States. Yes, it has a high number of students on free and reduced lunch and a high number of students of color. But it also has the only center for the Cambridge Academy on the West Coast, a highly rigorous curriculum developed by Cambridge University. It has the highest percentage of students taking advanced classes. Do people assume a school is "ghetto" just because of the high number of black and brown students? Do people not realize the ramifications of using that word?

People who commit to anti-racist behavior realize that if you are not part of the solution, you are part of the problem. If you think the world is a better place without racism, then do your part and stop using racially loaded words like "ghetto" as an adjective. And if you think this is just about being politically correct, well if not using racist language is being politically correct, then I guess I'm guilty. I'd rather be politically correct than a bigot.

Finally - Light at the End of the Tunnel!

So it looks like President Obama has come up with his own proposal of a health care reform bill. It also looks like the Senate is headed towards using reconciliation to avoid a filibuster. About time! How the Democrats could hold the majority in the Senate and allow the Republicans to hold them hostage on health care was disgusting.

The Republicans' nickname as the "Party of No" is well-deserved. They clearly have no desire to support anything that Obama proposes, or that will be perceived as a victory for the Democratic party. Where this is the most apparent is when Republican Senators co-sponsor bills, then when it comes time to vote for those same bills, they vote against them. It absolutely boggles the mind.

So now, President Obama has come up with his own proposal of a health care reform bill and has asked the GOP for their input (just like the GOP has said--they want to have input). Yet John Boehner has already called the wahhhhhhmmmbulance, complaining that the bill is a combination of the current House and Senate bills which are primarily Democratic and doesn't have any GOP ideas in it (not true). The whole point is Obama has reached out and asked for GOP input, yet all Boehner wants to do is whine.

One more thing--WHEN health care reform passes, the GOP will bitch and moan and say that the Democrats will have ignored the American people. But the fact of the matter is, every poll that has been conducted on health care reform says that the vast majority of people WANT health care reform and AREN'T happy with the current health care system and skyrocketing insurance costs. Republicans torpedoed Clinton's attempts at health care reforms, then did NOTHING for 15 years, and now they are trying to torpedo Obama's attempt at health care reform too.

My prediction is that health care reform will pass and the Republicans will again be seen as the party who voted against what's best for the American people. History repeating itself.

Four Years Later - Where Are We Now?

I started this blog in September of 2005 in response to the tragedy in New Orleans. The botched response to Hurricane Katrina exposed the racial divide in our country in the most extreme of circumstances. I felt so many emotions around what I was witnessing and I couldn't keep them bottled up or I would have exploded. So I started a blog to express what I felt was the playing out of privilege, oppression, institutionalized racism and classism--all in front of our eyes at the New Orleans Convention Center day after day in the aftermath of the hurricane.

I have facilitated workshops for the Anti-Defamation League and I teach a college class called "Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias Issues in Education". This is something I do for a living, so these issues permeate my thoughts on a daily basis. The events of the last few months have me very concerned. Where is our country headed, that someone can post a poll on Facebook that asks if President Obama should be killed? I'm absolutely appalled that our society has come to this.

I believe that Jimmy Carter was right in his assessment--some of this vitriol comes from the fact that there are those that absolutely cannot accept the fact that our President is African-American. There are those who will argue that it is about Obama's policies. There may be some who truly are only against his policies. But I truly believe that there are those who even subconsciously may feel uncomfortable with the idea of an African-American president. Those who say, "I don't see color," yet by their actions it is very apparent that they, in fact, are prejudiced.

For example, take a look at the demographics of the 9/12 rally in Washington, D.C. 99% of the people attending that rally were white. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that it was not a place that people of color were likely to attend. Particularly when there were signs showing Obama as a witch doctor as well as other signs that were overtly racist.

Everywhere you turn, there has been an attempt to marginalize and make Obama appear as an "other". During the election, there were attempts to paint him as a Muslim by highlighting his middle name. Not only was this untrue, but it was offensive to Muslim-Americans because it suggested that there was something wrong with being Muslim. There was an attempt by Fox News to make an innocent fist bump between President Obama and his wife into some sort of sinister "terrorist fist jab"--again an attempt to paint them as "dangerous". Finally even John McCain realized how out of control it was getting, when at a rally a woman called Obama an "Arab" and McCain had to defend him, although while doing so, he inadvertently offended Arab-Americans.

On Election Night, my husband Tom and I celebrated like the rest of the country. I had never seen people SO happy! I had volunteered all day in my hometown of Des Moines, Washington and at the end of the day we went to downtown Seattle to celebrate at the Westin with the governor and the other elected officials at the big Democratic Election Night party there. On the way in, people were out in the streets drumming, dancing, screaming, yelling--everyone was so ecstatic! Our kids also had watched it on TV and called us up, screaming and yelling, "OBAMA WON! OBAMA WON!" It was so unbelievable. I remember being at the Westin when Clinton won and we were happy, but it was not anything like this!

But there are some Republicans that just will not accept Obama as President and are doing everything to delegitimize him. The birther movement has already been debunked yet attorney/dentist/real estate agent (you've gotta be kidding me) Orly Taitz continues on her quest to prove that President Obama was born in Kenya and therefore his presidency is not valid. And the pathetic thing about it is you have certain right-wing congresspeople willing to support the birther movement. What happens is the low-information voters who are unable to think critically buy into this crap and then a movement is perpetuated.

Nancy Pelosi made a speech about the danger that is fomented by this hateful rhetoric. I completely agree. And it's not necessarily the loudmouths that you see at the town halls or 9/12 rallies. All this hatefulness that is being spewed by Glenn Beck and Lou Dobbs and all the other right-wing conspiracy theorists is fodder for those loners (think Tim McVeigh and the Unabomber) who have absolutely no morals or boundaries. This has got to stop. If there is someone who has the audacity to put up a Facebook poll asking if Obama should be killed, who knows what kind of other nutcase is out there?

When the White House is asked if they feel it is a racial issue, Obama cannot say, "Yes, I believe it is about race." Why? Because as an African-American, he will be accused of playing the race card. Whenever a person of color says that race is an issue in any particular incident, he/she will ALWAYS be accused of playing the race card. Therefore, Obama HAS TO say that race is not an issue. What has to happen is that other people, particularly, white people, need to make that observation. And other people HAVE made that observation. In fact, many people have.

What is ironic is that for people in the dominant culture, if you do not live in a racialized world where race is not part of your day-to-day existence, you can never know how that might impact your life. So what happens is that in any given situation, it's difficult for you to empathize how race might be a factor in that situation, because it is never a factor for YOU. So when a person of color expresses how race might be a factor in a life situation for them, someone from the dominant culture automatically DENIES that as a possibility and says they are "playing the race card" when in fact they are just sharing their life experience as a person of color.

It's the same as if a person has a disability. If a person is disabled and shares a difficulty they have in their life because of their disability, do you automatically say they are "playing the disability card". Probably not, right? So why do people always bring up this race card thing? I think it's because people of the dominant culture do not want to talk about race. They want to pretend that race is not an issue.

Funny, I have NEVER heard a person of color say, "Oh, you're playing the race card." Never ever. Because when I talk to my friends of color, whether they're black, Asian or Latino, when we talk about how our race might be a factor in a situation, there's always an understanding that yes, that is a possibility. We can all empathize with that.

In our society people of the dominant culture really are socialized not to talk about race. They're fascinated by it, but don't want to talk about it at the same time. The class I teach is great because I teach students who are planning to become teachers. We talk about all kinds of differences--race, gender, class, disabilities, sexual orientation. Are they uncomfortable at the beginning? You betcha. And for the most part, almost every class I teach I am the only person of color. Most of my classes are all white. But I provide a safe environment where people can say whatever they want to say without feeling judged.

I'll give you an example. Every quarter, there is someone who inadvertently uses the term "colored person". Rather than act shocked that the person used the term, we talk about the history of the term, how that term was used back in the 1950's to refer to African-Americans during the Jim Crow era in the South, and how it really harkens back to an ugly time in American history. I also draw the distinction between the term "colored person" and "person of color" because some people are confused by that.

And by the end of the class, the students come away with a completely new way of looking at the world. They are able to see the world with their eyes wide open and that the media perpetuates a lot of stereotypes. They are able to see the world through different perspectives and realize that their perspective of the world is not the only one. And they are able to talk about race without fear and in a more objective manner.

Implementing an Anti-Bias Curriculum

Empathy is the ability to put yourself in someone else's shoes. Each year when I teach my class, Multiculturalism and Anti-bias in Education, my students, all of whom are studying to become teachers, go beyond the borders of their comfort zones and try to empathize with what it is like to walk in the shoes of someone different. The vast majority of my students are white, female and middle-class. Yet the children they will be teaching are increasingly diverse. The vast majority of my students view the world through a cultural lens that may be very different than the ones that their future students may be viewing the world through. It is so important that my students have the ability to empathize with other world viewpoints, and to see that other cultural perspectives are just as viable. It is important that they do not view people of color as foreign, or exotic, but as normalized. Through the class, we talk about infusing anti-bias curriculum into the day-to-day curriculum, so that it just becomes the norm, rather than "Tacos on Tuesday", or what we call a "tourist curriculum".

I'm Still on a High!

It has been eight days since Barack Obama was elected POTUS and I'm still beaming from ear to ear! I feel like the country has come out from an eight year hibernation in a cave and it's a new day in America!

On Election Night, Tom and I first went to Mick Kelley's Irish Pub in Burien where a contingent of people from the 33rd and 11th Legislative Districts watched the Election Night speeches on the big screen. John McCain gave a very gracious concession speech and I believe him when he says he will support Obama. When Obama gave his victory speech, Tom and I sobbed. We both grew up during the Civil Rights era. One of the first corporations I worked for after I graduated from college was under a consent decree because of systemic discrimination against women and people of color, and for years proactively hired women and people of color under court order. However, this didn't stop the discrimination that happened once women and people of color were hired. I ended up filing an EEO complaint against the company for gender discrimination and won a promotion and back pay. I consistently saw white men of mediocre talent get promoted over women and people of color of greater ability. When I filed my EEO complaint, women and people of color who rightfully should have been promoted finally got the promotions and pay increases they deserved. At the time, I was 26 years old. Another friend of mine filed a sexual harassment complaint; she too won her complaint as there was concrete evidence of the harassment. But there were many people who were discriminated against who felt powerless, who felt that if they stood up against those in power, that they might lose their jobs. So they put up with the discrimination.

That experience in a sense informed my decision to become a diversity trainer. I have always been interested in issues of social justice. I can remember as early as fifth grade reading books about civil rights and being moved by these stories. I decided rather than sit on the sidelines and bemoan the situation, I wanted to do something about. Originally I became an actor in a diversity theatre company, performing plays about institutionalized racism and facilitating discussions afterwards. Great experience. Afterwards, I worked with several diversity consulting firms and facilitated workshops in corporations throughout the country about workplace diversity. I've also worked with the Anti-Defamation League, working with schools on prejudice reduction and with Green River Community College as an adjunct instructor, teaching Multiculturalism and Anti-Bias in Education.

When I think back to the struggle of women and people of color in our society, and now look at how far we've come, with Hillary Clinton as a viable candidate and Barack Obama as our president-elect, I feel that the battles that many of us have waged have been worth it. The younger generation does not view race in the same way that older people view it, and I believe a lot of that is due to education, and how educators really are taught to not bring their biases into the classroom. There is a strong focus on anti-bias education, and has been for a long time now. And it was that all-important youth vote that was critical in Obama's victory.

I read a great article today. It talked about how Fox News is really helping the Democratic party. By preaching their hate, anti-Muslim rhetoric, and anti-intellectual rants, they push away moderates from the Republican party to the Democratic party so that the only ones left are the hard right, low education voters. Yea, Fox, keep on doing what you're doing! Here's the article:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/11/AR2008111102257.html

Sarah Palin Does Not Value Diversity

One thing that really struck me when watching the two political conventions was that the Democratic Convention was very inclusive. You had young and old, all different ethnicities, people with disabilities. Forty-four percent of the delegates were people of color. What a great representation of our country!

As I watched the Republican Convention, I really had to search the crowd to find a person of color. I also had to search the crowd to find someone under 55. Seriously. It looked like a senior citizen's convention. A white senior citizen's convention.

I remember one Republican pundit saying that they don't have quotas and that's why the Democratic Convention has more people of color. Well, I was part of the caucuses here in Washington State, and we do have goals in order to be more inclusive but guess what? We met most of our goals during the regular caucuses. Meaning, during the Congressional District Caucuses, when the national delegates were elected, we voted for a diverse delegation. Diverse in terms of age, race, sexual orientation, gender and disability status. You see, Democrats are inclusive! We don't limit our delegates to a select group of European-American, upper-middle-class 60-year-olds.

So what does this have to do with Sarah Palin? Apparently, she has absolutely no relationship with the African-American community in Alaska and has not returned any phone calls from one of the African-American leaders in Alaska. She doesn't feel it's important. Check out these two blogs:

http://freerangewriting.blogspot.com/2008/09/palin-and-divesity-representation.html

http://electronicvillage.blogspot.com/2008/09/sarah-palin-and-african-americans-in.html

Clearly, we can see where she stands in terms of her relationship with people of color.

The Politics of Spin

This morning I was watching "Meet the Press", as I do every Sunday morning at 6:00 AM. Boy, the Republicans sure know how to spin an answer.

Rudy Giuliani was being interviewed by Tom Brokaw, and Brokaw was hitting him with some pretty tough questions. First of all, he showed a clip of McCain promising to run a respectful campaign, followed by a recent attack ad in which the McCain campaign states that Obama's only accomplishment in education is providing sex education to kindergarteners! Which is not only patently false (Obama did not sponsor the bill, and the bill is about teaching K-12 children how to avoid sexual predators), Giuliani goes on to blame Obama for McCain's negative ads, saying that McCain wouldn't have to do negative ads if Obama had agreed to town hall meetings!

Then he defends his sarcastic and condescending remark about community organizing in his RNC speech. He turned it around by saying he was referring to how little a record Obama had in community organizing. Sorry Rudy, we all heard what you said. That is NOT what you said. You sneered. You said, "Community organizing". Then you laughed and said, "Yeah," in a mocking tone. It had nothing to do with his record. You were just being an asshole. Then he went on and on about him being the most liberal senator, blah, blah, blah.

When asked about the "bubba" vote, and the impact of those who may not be emotionally prepared to vote for a black man, he answered it very superficially, saying he knows John McCain and he knows that John McCain doesn't want people to vote for him because of race. I call BS on that comment too, because so many ads from the McCain campaign subtly and not-so-subtly paint a picture of the Obamas as "other", trying to appeal to those racist voters who are not comfortable voting for an African-American. And then there are the conservative groups and scurrilous emails that have perpetuated rumors about the Obamas--that portray Michelle Obama as the "angry black woman" or Barack Obama as a Muslim, or an innocent fist bump as a "terrorist fist jab", or the rantings of their pastor as somehow reflective of their views. What I don't understand is why isn't the media looping the story about Todd Palin's ties to a secessionist party? Why isn't the media airing the story about Sarah Palin's pastor saying that any critic of George W. Bush and his policies will burn in hell? Why is there a double standard when it comes to coverage on Republican candidates and Democratic candidates? Liberal bias, my a**! The media is owned by corporations.

We deserve to know about Sarah Palin. This sequestering of Sarah Palin is ludicrous. It should be clear to EVERYONE by now that she does not know anything about foreign policy. She is being hidden from the press because she is not able to answer questions on the fly and the McCain campaign is terrified that she is going to make a fool of herself. She already made a fool of herself in the Charlie Gibson interview when she had no idea what the Bush Doctrine was. Some people may argue, "Well, so what, not everyone knows what the Bush Doctrine is." Yes, but SHE is running for Vice-President. SHE should know what it is. Clearly that was not one of the things she was PREPPED on. The Vice-Presidential job is not something ygu study for like a test. You need to be prepared, and clearly she knows NOTHING about foreign policy in a time when we are engaged in not one but TWO wars! She says her foreign policy experience is about ENERGY! Give me a break! And then Giuliani tries to defend that position by skirting the issue and saying that it's about her executive experience? What, her part-time position as mayor of a podunk town of 6,000 people and governor of Alaska for less than two years, where she is under investigation for abuse of power? Come on, do you really think we're that stupid?

Please use your vote wisely. This election is way too important to waste it. The McCain/Palin ticket is not about change. The choice of Palin was a calculated move to bring evangelical Christians to the ticket and hopefully women; however, many women realize that Palin does not share their views when it comes to women's reproductive rights. Obama and Biden have a record of supporting women's rights.

This election really matters. It really matters. We can do this.