Expert?

“No country in the world has made more progress toward combating overt racism than [the United States],” says David Schneider, a Rice University psychologist and the author of “The Psychology of Stereotyping.” “But the most popular stereotype of black people is still that they’re violent. And for a lot of people, not even racist people, the sight of a white child with a black parent just sets off alarm signals.”

This quote comes from a Newsweek article about an African-American family who have adopted a little white girl. (But don’t read the comments unless you want to puke.)

What do you all think? Because it strikes me that the first statement is not true. My post from last year refutes it, in fact. And as for the statement that people whose alarm bells are set off by the sight of a white child with a black parent are “not even racist”, well! Doesn’t sound like much of an expert to me.

Dear whomever

Dear neighbors,

There is a simple way to assure that your trash does not blow all over the place when it is windy.  It is called “tying the top of the trash bag.”  Please try it.  Thank you.

How do you …

All right, culturally sensitive people, here’s a question for you:  How do you ask somebody to repeat his or her name because you haven’t understood it?

Also, those of you assaulted by culturally insensitive boors:  How do you respond and what would you like the person to say?

Does the “B” stand for “bigot”?

So Miss California didn’t win the Miss U.S.A. pageant. And do you know why? It’s because she failed to be politically correct!

Perez Hilton:  Vermont recently became the fourth state to legalize same-sex marriage. Do you think every state should follow suit? Why or why not?

Miss California:  Well, I think it’s great that Americans are able to choose one or the other. Um, we live in a land that you can choose same-sex marriage or opposite marriage.  And you know what, in my country, and in my family, I think that I believe that a marriage should be between a man and a woman. No offense to anybody out there, but that’s how I was raised and that’s how I think that it should be, between a man and a woman.

(And “opposite marriage”? LOL)

I speak languages other than racismese, although probably not as well. Here’s my shot. Please feel free to chime in:

Yom HaShoah

Because we remember.

Has the world learned the lesson?

Elie Wiesel spoke at the opening of the Illinois Holocaust Museum on Sunday.  You can view the video here.

The courageous heart …

… of Irena Sendler.  Her story has been made into a made-for-television movie, which will be shown tonight on CBS.

Knowing our history

I first wrote about this issue two years ago, and the campaign for a stamp honoring the Japanese American veterans of World War II is ongoing.  To me, the most amazing thing about these veterans is that many of them volunteered directly out of U.S. concentration camps.

If you wish to write a letter in support, here is the address:

Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee
United States Postal Service – Stamp Development
1735 North Lynn Street, Suite 5013
Arlington, Virginia 22209-6432

Send your letter soon, because the committee meets on April 24.  You can read more about this issue here.  There’s also a form letter you can sign and mail.

Supposedly, the official reason the Japanese American veteran stamp has not been considered is because of an ” internal, non-public guideline that prohibits stamps that honor sub-branches, units or divisions of the military.”

Here’s more commentary about the selection process:

“We are emotionally moved by the Postal Service selecting us rather than making the lazy choice of someone who has benefited society,” said James L. Brooks, executive producer of The Simpsons.

Simpsons Beat the Odds The U.S. Postal Service receives approximately 50,000 suggestions for stamp subjects each year, yet only about 20 topics are selected for postage.

From the USPS press release.  Yep, that’s right!  “The Simpsons” will be honored on a U.S. postage stamp this May.  The Nisei?  No one knows when.

An inspiration for us all

75-year-old Shigeo Tokuda has been making porn movies for the past 16 years. His career was launched because of disappointment with existing porn story lines.

No ‘happily ever after’

Police chief Tim Dolan is continuing to deny allegations that a gun was planted on Fong Lee, saying that lawyers are spinning a “fairy tale” and that the evidence is “overwhelming” that Lee had a gun. Lee was a 19-year-old man who ran from the police after a police cruiser knocked him off his bicycle.  Police fired nine times; Lee was hit eight times.  A gun was recovered at the site, but curiously had no fingerprints or no DNA evidence.

Yeah, it’s cold in Minnesota.  But not cold enough in July to wear gloves.  It is undisputed that Lee was barehanded at the time of his death.

The gun recovered at the site was traced to a Minnesota man, Dang Her, who had reported it stolen.  However, Her stated in an affidavit that he had been contacted by the police and told the gun had been recovered shortly after the theft.  He states it was not returned to him.  It was reportedly in police custody at the time of the shooting.

What does the police department say?  They were confused between this gun and another.  They never recovered Dang Her’s gun.  Shortly after the shooting, Lt. Fossum wrote a supplementary report “explaining” that the gun had been confused with another gun.

Got all that?