Protests in Italy against escalating racism
Protesters marched amid fears that intolerance is on the rise in Italy as the country's president told the Pope he was concerned about "new manifestations of racism" domestically and across Europe.London Mayor Boris Johnson forced to back down on police racism probe
The demonstration followed a poll taken by the centre-left La Repubblica newspaper which found that 86 per cent of readers agreed with the proposition that Italy faces "a racism emergency".
Last week a gang of teenage thugs beat up a 36-year-old Chinese immigrant in Rome.
Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, has been forced to revise his inquiry into racism in the Metropolitan Police before it has even started, after a frosty reception from the force's governing body.Cal chancellor calls tree-sit protest 'racism'
Mr Johnson proposed the inquiry after a group representing black police officers in the capital criticised the "hostile and racist environment" in the force and called on ethnic minority recruits to boycott the Met.
Today, however, as the Mayor presided over his first meeting of the Metropolitan Police Authority (MPA) since taking office, he was told forcefully that the investigation that he envisaged was an expensive, unnecessary duplication of earlier inquiries, and would be open to accusations of bias.
Berkeley's tree-sitters may have thought their nearly two-year protest was an act of civil disobedience, but to UC Berkeley Chancellor Robert Birgeneau it was actually "racism against our underrepresented minority student athletes." [...]Racism: the elephant in the US polling booth
"If we continue to demean, handcuff, jail individuals that attempt to be heard, the protest will continue to escalate," the couple wrote.
Birgeneau's response was to the point.
"I am surprised by the fact that you advocate for criminal trespassers who use their own feces and urine to harass our staff while, at the same time, ignoring the racism against our underrepresented minority student athletes that underlies much of the opposition to our proposed student high-performance athletic center," Birgeneau wrote.
"Race is a factor for those who would vote for and against him," said Gary Weaver, an American University professor who leads its Intercultural Management Institute.White America Lives in Vicious Racial Denial – Obama Is Making It Worse
"I think that there are some white Americans who will not vote for a black person. It is unlikely they would admit this publicly, but they might admit this in anonymous surveys," Weaver said.
"On the phone, racists will often deny that they are influenced by race because it is socially unacceptable. When they enter the poll booths, these people may very well vote against Obama."
According to a recent Stanford University poll, Obama could lose six points on election day due to his color -- a troublingly price to pay for prejudice.
Defending Barack Obama against blatantly racist attacks is made more complicated by - Obama, himself, who avers that, if he loses in November, it won't because of his race. This, despite abundant and compelling evidence to the contrary. But then, Obama denies that race is an important factor in American life - again, against all the evidence. Worse, "Obama has bent over backwards to align himself with mainstream white hostility to blacks." Rather than being a "transformative" influence on race relations, Obama hopelessly muddies the waters and gives comfort to the enemy: white supremacy.Race Injected Into Obama Vote
I don’t cover politics at TWI, so I’m not going to comment on the campaign strategy behind the remarks. But I do live in Arlington, in a neighborhood called Clarendon. And I can tell you a little bit about what’s been going on here.
During the past few weeks, people who posted “Obama for President” signs in their yards in Clarendon and in the nearby neighborhood of Lyon Park received this letter. Addressed to “Dearest Neighbor,” the letter informed them, in a tone meant to be friendly and helpful, that they should consider the possibility that they are supporting Obama to cover up for their own, hidden racism. Here’s the letter...
