Snowed in, but still chasing the big R.

I feel like I am living in Northern Minnesota right about now. Snow is all around me. *Memo to self: Buy a really nice snow blower this weekend*






This is crazy. I knew this was going to be a rough winter, but this is getting to be a bit too much for my Jamaican blood.








So anyway, snow or no snow; the racism chase must go on.








Tonight my first stop takes me to the state of North Carolina, a state where they are fast becoming as loony as some of their neighbors to the South.








How about this head scratcher?








"A North Carolina mother is reeling after an elementary school rewarded her black son with a Confederate Army hat.


When Natasha Lea's 9-year-old son Jacob got off his Reidsville school bus last week, she said she was absolutely floored by what she saw him wearing on his head.


"I said, let me see that hat," Lea emotionally recalled to MyFox8.
Jacob obediently handed her the grey flat-topped cap, which didn't have any outside markings on it. But when she looked inside, she saw the damning proof.
Its tag read "Confederate."




Of course, the clueless folks in the elementary school didn't seem to think that there was anything wrong with their contribution to this sad bit of irony.






Rockingham County Spokesperson Karen Hyler confessed that the hat was given away to Lea's son as part of a class prize in exchange for "big bucks," a kind of academic currency rewarded to their students." [Source]


But the gift wasn't given in a "malicious way" by his teacher, she said.


"Before winter break in December, the class had an auction where students could bid on different items using their 'big bucks,'"


No, it might not have been "malicious"; just incredibly stupid and insensitive. And, if you ask me, a little bit racist.




Speaking of racists, conservatives, in an effort to do away with the rights of minority voters, are now falsely claiming that the Voting Rights Act discriminates against white people. Yes, they really said that.



"Conservatives insist the congressional effort to strengthen the Voting Rights Act (VRA) unfairly discriminates against white voters. The claim rests on evidence that’s shaky at best—but could still make it harder for the bill to win the Republican support it needs.


The Voting Rights Amendment Act, unveiled Thursday by a bipartisan group of lawmakers, aims to update the formula used to determine which areas of the country must get federal approval before making any changes to their voting rules—a system known as “pre-clearance.” In June, the Supreme Court struck down the law’s existing formula, under which almost all the southern states were covered, ruling that it was out of date.


In an interview last week with msnbc, Center for Equal Opportunity president Roger Clegg argued that the VRA’s pre-clearance system unfairly advantages those claiming discrimination. Clegg’s organization has fought to narrow the application of civil rights laws.


“They don’t like these laws, and so they’ve brought lawsuits, that’s fine,” Clegg said, referring to voting rights advocates. “If they can prove that there’s been racial discrimination they’ll win those lawsuits. Why would the deck be stacked further in their favor?”


Writing last week in National Review, Clegg made an additional argument against the new legislation. Clegg called the bill “color-conscious,” charging that it “offers protections for ‘minority voters’ that it withholds from ‘nonminority’ voters.”' [Source]


Look, I know that some of you white conservatives believe that you are losing your country to brown and black people, and that if you don't find ways to keep them away from the voting booth they will take away whatever power you think you have.




But here is the deal: Voting with people of color on some of the major issues of the day, might actually be more in line with your own best interest-- and better for you-- than voting with the party ---and for people--- who you believe have your best interest at heart.




Sorry, but unless you happen to be a major corporation, or you have enough money to own an NFL team; they are just not that into you.




In case you didn't notice, the wealth gap is really growing in the world. (The poorest 3.55 billion people must live on what the richest 85 people possess.) And every politician and every lobbyist ---who owns these politicians--- want to be with the guys with the big bank accounts; not the rest of the people. 




"Hans von Spakovsky, a senior fellow at the conservative Heritage Foundation and a persistent critic of aggressive enforcement of civil rights laws, has gone further.


“For the first time, [GOP Rep. James] Sensenbrenner’s bill actually says that the protections of this amendment will only apply to racial minority groups, and they defined them in the law, and it specifically excludes white voters,” von Spakovsky told the Washington Times.


He added, “They’re basically giving a ‘get out of jail free’ card to black elected officials in the South, where they can discriminate all they want against white voters.”




Wouldn't it be nice, if, just for once, "white voters" and "black elected officials in the South" would come to realize that they all want the same thing?

Lighting up in North Carolina, and a president who lit up back in the day.

If there is a lack of comments after this post from from my wingnut friends tomorrow, it might be because most of them are in Reidsville, North Carolina for a big Memorial Day weekend bash. There is nothing like a little cross burning to bring friends together.

Anywhoo, I wish them luck with that. This is America, and they should be free to assemble as they please. As long as they are not being violent or breaking any laws, I say let them burn their crosses. (h/t Tia for this story)

Speaking of fire, it seems that our president liked to fire up the good collie weed back in the day. ("The Choom Gang"? I know I liked something about that dude) O even had rules for burning the collie. That sounds downright Rastafarian to me.  I bet Mitt didn't burn the collie weed back in the day. I know he spent some time in Paris, but he was on a mission from God, and the last time I checked Mormons didn't hit the blunt for inspiration.

Finally, it's time to attack black. My House Negro of the day is a woman named Wanette Gibson. She is the woman who lied about a budding football star raping her, and cost the young man five years of his life and a possible lucrative professional career.

"A woman who claimed that she was raped by a star high school football player -- sending him to prison for five years -- is not likely to be charged with making a false accusation, prosecutors said.

In the summer of 2002, Wanette Gibson accused Brian Banks, now 26, of rape. The two were students at Long Beach Poly High School. Rather than take the he-said-she-said case to trial and risk a 41-years-to-life prison sentence, Banks pleaded no contest to forcible rape, spent five years in prison and, after his release, was forced to register as a sex offender and wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

"It's been a struggle, it's been a nightmare," he said. "It's more than I can describe, the things that I've been through."

Banks was considered a top college football prospect. A 6-foot-4, 225-pound middle linebacker, he had been courted by USC, UCLA and other football powerhouses, he said.

He asked the California Innocence Project for help, but with no new evidence there was little the organization could do.

Then, last year, the woman sent him a friend request on Facebook.
She felt guilty that he had lost out on going to college and playing football and had "a desire to make amends," Banks' attorneys said in court documents.

When Banks heard from her, he recalled, "I stopped what I was doing and got down on my knees and prayed to God to help me play my cards right."

She agreed to meet him and a private investigator. Their conversation was taped and Gibson said, "No, he did not rape me."

That admission set off an extraordinary chain of events that culminated Thursday morning. A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge dismissed Banks' conviction, ending 10 years of turmoil in a hearing that lasted less than a minute.

According to Banks and his private investigator, Gibson refused to tell prosecutors that she had lied, so that she wouldn't have to return the $1.5-million settlement her family won in court after suing the Long Beach Unified School District." [Source]

Now let's keep it real folks. If a white woman had falsely accused Brian Banks of raping her there would have been hell to pay. Yours truly would have been blogging about it for sure. The fact that he was taken down by a sister does not make this story any less tragic.

The sad thing about this story is that when women like Wanette Gibson lie about something as serious as rape, it makes it harder for the next victim who legitimately comes forward seem less believable.

The woman's family got 1.5 million to settle with the School District. It's a shame that Brian Banks couldn't have gotten some or all of that money.

*Pic courtesy of The Grio.