‘Sterilized by North Carolina, she felt raped once more’
Shawn Rocco, Raleigh News & Observer
From the LA Times: Elaine Riddick was raped at 14 and became pregnant as a result. Shortly after she gave birth to her son, she was sterilized by virtue of a decision made by the state Eugenics Board. Now the state is proposing $50,000 in compensation to each victim if the legislature approves the payment.
You probably shouldn’t read the comments, but if you do you’ll notice that many people still assume that Riddick is a ne’er-do-well based solely upon her color and that the sentiment driving the eugenics movement still maintains a strong base.
Lazy blogger, Wednesday edition
With DNA Testing, Suddenly They Are Family. DNA testing’s new market: Finding connections to blood relatives for people who were adopted.
Very Positive Reactions to Michelle Obama as First Lady. Among black people, at least. What about her values? Eighty-seven percent of black women and 82 percent of black men said Mrs. Obama shares their values, compared to 63 percent of white women and 48 percent of white men. What kind of values does she hold, anyway?
Here’s the one I thought was really telling: Only 88 percent of white men agreed that Michelle Obama is intelligent. Because Princeton and Harvard Law grads who are black were affirmative action admits, yanno.
Also, apparently “arrogant” and “racist” made it in the top five adjectives used by whites to describe her.
Family of Mt. Carmel Student Killed in Indiana Fight Files Lawsuit. The Kennelly family is suing for wrongful death.
What color were the rest?
So you probably saw the video making the rounds yesterday. It was of six teens beating up on an Asian high school student. Somebody taped the assault and posted it to Youtube. As a result, seven teenagers have been charged.
This morning I woke to hear the radio news announcer reporting on this case. He said, “At least three of the teens are Asian themselves.”
Good to know.
Story here. (Don’t watch the video.) Although the Sun-Times notes “Most of the offenders visible in the video appeared to be white.”
Word problems
If a Gwinnett County elementary school has several third-grade teachers, and none of them saw any problem with the following math assignment, how many teachers there are in need of more education?
Each tree had 56 oranges. If 8 slaves pick them equally, then how much would each slave pick?*
If Frederick got two beatings per day, how many beatings did he get in 1 week? 2 weeks?
(Note that almost half of the teachers at this school have a master’s degree. I tend to think that the basic teacher curriculum isn’t enough, but that’s a lengthy rant best left for another time.)
*I’d note this is a poorly written question even if you substitute another noun for “slaves.” Read the rest of this entry
How many?
She is an African American girl from Dallas, Texas. In 2010, 14-year-old Jakadrien Turner ran away from home. She was distraught about her parents’ divorce and the death of her grandfather.
In 2011, she was found in Colombia. Where the ICE had deported her.
We’ve written about citizen deportations previously. As well as the deportation of persons who believed they were citizens. Recently, a Minnesota man was detained despite immigration records that indicated U.S. citizenship.
The U.S. government does not track wrongful deportations, but estimates from immigration attorneys and researchers suggest these cases are not unusual (pdf file).
Mother and child reunite after 77 years
AP Photo/Jae C. Hong
Minka Disbrow was 17 years old when her baby daughter was adopted. Seventy-seven years later they were reunited. Disbrow’s grandson petitioned the court to open his mother’s adoption files. Using that information, he was able to find Disbrow’s telephone number. Story here.
Gordon Hirabayashi, 1918-2012
Hirabayashi defied curfew imposed upon people of Japanese descent during World War II and took his case to the Supreme Court. The court initially held that the curfew order was constitutional. Subsequently his conviction was overturned.
‘Obscuring a Muslim name and an American’s sacrifice’
His name was Mohammad Salman Hamdani. He disappeared on September 11, 2001. He was suspected of being involved in the 9/11 attacks. Instead, it appears Hamdani, an EMT and a police cadet, rushed to the twin towers to offer his assistance. His remains were identified several months later.
The story is heartbreaking; his parents hoped he had been detained by the government rather that acknowledge he probably died. His colleagues archived an article from the Baltimore Sun here.
He had a Muslim name. He had an American name. He was Mohammad Salman Hamdani. We will not forget.
