A response to Hate Crimes against white people, subtle bias, and statistics

In a recent post, Vietnamese fisherman’s death labeled a hate-crime by Asian-Americans, but not by authorities - a reader Larry commented:

An old friend of mine was a victim of a hate crime in Chicago too. He was beaten by gangbangers who kept calling him “whiteboy” and “cracker”. Now he has permanent brain damage. No hate crime charges were filed though, and last I heard all of the perpetrators did less than a year in jail. Go figure.

A few things about the comment

Notice the “Go Figure”?

Those two simple words slant the whole comment where it not just becomes a statement about hate crime law and an injustice that has taken place - but a comment as in - “See what those people can get away with?” where it seems as if all people of color are getting lumped into the “gangbanger” persona and by association are criminal - at the same time implying that hate crimes against white people don’t and won’t get prosecuted, trying to encourage sympathy - but doing so by trying to pit whites against people of color through negative stereotyping.

Such a seemingly simple statement - unless defused and analyzed - can easily be used as a springboard for much more direct and racist speech and doctrines (even if the statement wasn’t intended to be a springboard for more direct and racist speech - simply because it has racial bias built into it).

Some facts about Hate Crimes in the U.S.

Hate crimes against whites do exist and are prosecuted - as they should be.

According to the FBI’s Hate Crime statistics there were 828 incidents, 935 offenses, 975 victims and 963 known offenders for Hate Crimes that were committed because of anti-white sentiment (this does not include victims who were involved in a hate crime where the bias for the crime was something other than race, like gender or religion, and who were also white as well).

Go to the full statistics for the 2005 Hate Crimes at the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s site.

New York Fashion Week, Racist Runways, and Kimora Lee - Savior?

On the heels of Naomi Campbell slamming magazines and the fashion industry again for not having diversity in their models (see here, here, here) saying:

“Black models are being sidelined by major modelling agencies. It’s a pity that people don’t appreciate black beauty.”

the industry again is getting heat during New York’s Fashion Week:

“At New York’s Fashion Week many top designers chose to employ one or two black models and a few Asians in shows and some had none, Reuters reporters who attended over 40 shows found. Blacks, and blacks in combination with another race, make up about 13 per cent of Americans, US Census data shows.” - MSNBC

Who bucked the trend though?

“Diane von Furstenberg and Baby Phat were among the few that had a more equal racial mix of models. At least half the models used for Baby Phat, which features Kimora Lee Simmons’ glitzy urban designs, were black or Asian.” - MSNBC

Dark Clouds & James Ford Seale

This is a good read and opinion piece by a native son from Mississippi who reflects on his homeland in light of the recent James Ford Seale convictions and how it has affected him and his home state.

Spike Lee: When the Levees Broke: A Requiem in Four Acts

In case you’ve missed the past 2 installments Spike Lee’s four-hour HBO documentary about Hurricane Katrina will air in its entirety on August 29th, which is also the anniversary of Katrina’s landfall. Visit the HBO site here.

White Man Claims $150,000 in racism lawsuit: Powershift?

From newsday.com:

A federal jury awarded a white man $150,000 in a reverse racial discrimination lawsuit Wednesday.

Mark Pasternak, who is white, said he was dismissed from his state job helping troubled youths because he could not tolerate being called names like “cracker,” “polack” and “stupid white boy.”

A seven-member all-white jury found that Tommy Baines, who is black, discriminated against Pasternak and created a hostile work environment.

Read the full article here

I have many thoughts on this….a few which are:

1. No one - including white people should have to tolerate racial slurs.

2. On a whole, racial slurs against white people (specifically white males) when looked at in context of the history of oppression against people of color, do not hold the same weight as a racial slur against a person of color in regard to power and prejudice.

3. I question the ALL WHITE jury, just as I would question an ALL BLACK jury.

4. $150,000 in comparison to the person’s salary seems fair based upon the time they could not work due to the job conditions.

5. The settlement does make you think about how the imbalance of power seems to still be apparent even in a racial case when compared to settlements from Nike and Target and the paltry sums that were given out to African Americans in the cases. In a way when juxtaposed together one says “If you are black you get next to nothing in a racial discrimination suit”, but “If you are white, you deserve more money.”

And remember - this isn’t saying the person shouldn’t have gotten the settlement that they did, or that it was the wrong settlement - but it sheds A LOT OF LIGHT on how so many things are still unequal for persons of color in our country.

The response from the Target Corporation on the racist e-mail chain

In regard to the racist e-mail from Target Corporation and their woes this year (see post), I got this response from the Target Corporation - and really - should I have expected anything different?

Dear Target Guest,

The e-mail in question is in clear violation of our mission statement and contradictory to what Target stands for. Target is taking prompt and appropriate actions, including using our forensic lab, to bring swift resolution to this matter.

We appreciate the time you’ve taken to share your thoughts and feelings about this issue. I’ll be sure to make your comments available to our executives.

We always welcome your feedback, so if there’s ever any question you have about our products or service, please call our Target Guest Relations team at 800-440-0680. We also invite you to share your comments whenever you visit a Target store or on the Internet at http://www.target.com/. We look forward to serving you again soon and thank you for shopping at Target.

Sincerely,

Michael
Target Guest Relations
http://www.target.com/

[THREAD ID:1-3QX6B2]

So I wonder what will happen when I go to a Target store and “share” what I think to a manager there?