INNOCENCE LOST

It was one of those fantastically beautiful Florida days in May of 2007. Asma Sidani and her two beautiful sons, one five and the other eleven thought it would be a perfect time for some Taco Bell.

Seated at a table in the Tampa Bay restaurant the two children awaited the return of their mother as she placed their order. Little did they realize that the stranger seated close by, 60-year-old Thomas Plaisted, hated them simply because they were Muslim.

It didn’t take long for the bile that often accompanies such hatred to rise within Plaisted. Unleashing a torrent of racial expletives and curse words upon the two children, Plaisted then spat food into the face of the youngest and began shoving the oldest.

Shouting that he wanted to break their necks, Plaisted was confronted by patrons and workers in the restaurant and forced to flee. However, the hateful onslaught would scar the two little ones for the rest of their lives.

Incongruously, once the police arrived, they refused to take a report furthering the outrage of both the mother and the onlookers and doing nothing to assuage the terrified youth.

In a society such as ours where people from all corners of the Earth converge and dwell and work together it is inconceivable that such things continue to occur. Often we are oblivious to the deleterious acts of the crazed and the depraved. Caught up in the hustle and bustle of our own daily routines, we have a tendency to take freedom, and the acceptance of others for granted.

The Sidani children were guilty of nothing more than being children born into a Muslim family. Anticipating a favorite meal, they expected nothing more than a happy repast with their mother. Yet, they were robbed of their innocence and their security by a thief so filled with venomous hatred as to rival a rattler on a hot August night.

Thomas Plaisted was, of all things, a school bus driver for the local district. Everyday he drove young students, of every color and ethnicity, to and from their educational institutes. His actions resulted in his firing and in his being charged with a hate crime.

The failure of the police in this matter, resulted in an apology and an assurance that such negligence would not happen again. However, the very fact that it occurred at all leaves one wondering how widespread such blatant negligence might be – and if it was negligence at all.

The children are scheduled to give depositions next week. In a civilized community of humanity, children are generally valued at a higher level. We have an innate sense of protecting those who have not yet matured into adulthood. In this case, we can only hope that the children will be able to work through the trauma that Plaisted inflicted upon their young psyches.

While the actions of Plaisted are despicable, they are not without precedence, however. All to often, hate crimes against others, even the young, are being committed. They leave behind not only the physical evidence but an emotional scarring that can and, often does, last a lifetime.

MENDING FENCES - IT CAN HAPPEN

http://www.theacorn.com/news/2008/0508/community/023.html

Intolerance is not the way, students taught
By Sophia Fischer sfischer@theacorn.com

JANN HENDRY/Acorn Newspapers FOES, FRIENDS- Matthew Boger, left, a gay man, and Tim Zaal, a former white supremacist, have made their peace.

A former neo-Nazi skinhead leader and a gay man discussed their unlikely friendship during a student assembly at Oak Park High School last Wednesday. The men spoke about hate, healing, forgiveness and hope.

Tim Zaal, a former white supremacist from the San Gabriel Valley, served time in jail after assaulting an Iranian couple he thought were Jewish.

Matthew Boger, thrown out of his Bay area home by his mother at age 13 after announcing he was gay, spent years living on the street. The two men, now in their 40s, met in 1981 when Zaal nearly beat Boger to death in a dark Hollywood alley. They met again 26 years later through the Museum of Tolerance in Los Angeles.

Boger, the museum manager, and Zaal, a consultant for the museum, met for lunch in May 2005. While talking about their childhoods the men realized they had met before- in the alley where Zaal helped beat Boger up. The revelation made Boger so angry he left the restaurant.

“For two weeks I thought about what I was going to do to destroy Tim’s life,” Boger said at the assembly.

Zaal publicly apologized to Boger during a presentation for visiting students. It wasn’t easy for him, but Boger forgave Zaal.

“I did it so I could heal and move forward,” he said.

Zaal urged students not to make the same mistakes he made. He compared the predominantly white neighborhood he grew up in with Oak Park. Zaal was considerably younger than his siblings and considerably influenced by them. As the neighborhood diversified, Zaal became aware of his family’s racist attitude.

“My father never said Hispanic or black people were bad but that property values were depreciating and the neighborhood wasn’t what it used to be,” Zaal said. “It’s definitely not something we’re born with- it’s definitely something we’re taught- our upbringing, our neighborhood.”

The shooting of his troubled older brother by an AfricanAmerican deeply affected Zaal. After his siblings left home, Zaal’s mother returned to work, leaving the youth on his own after school.

He began drinking, grew a mohawk, and became involved in the hardcore Hollywood punk scene where violence was common. His group vandalized cars, stores and beat people. He married a woman in the white supremacist movement and had a son. He began to raise the boy as a racist.

“Having a child does strange things to a person. It makes you have to be responsible,” Zaal said.

A turning point came when Zaal was in a store with his then 2-year-old child. The boy loudly pointed out an African-American man, using the “n-word.” Other customers stepped in to berate Zaal for teaching such language and attitude to his youngster. “It was the first time I ever felt shame,” Zaal said.

It took years for Zaal to extricate himself from the supremacist movement. His first wife is in jail, and his son is struggling with the issues of his upbringing. Zaal is now married to a Jewish woman. Following the example set by a friend, a fellow former skinhead, Zaal began volunteering at the Museum of Tolerance.

Meanwhile, Boger was living on the streets in San Francisco after his eviction from home. Cold, tired and hungry, he called his mom to ask if he could return.

“My mother said I could come home only if I was done being gay,” Boger said. “That was the last time I heard her voice.”

He eventually moved to Los Angeles and lived for years on a piece of cardboard in a park, eating out of trash cans and being victimized.

Many homeless teens hung out at a nearby burger joint. One night a group of 14 teens assaulted Boger and his friends. He ran into an alley to try to escape, but was beaten by all the attackers.

“They were kicking me, cutting me open. The last thing I remember was a boot with a razor blade in it kicking me in the head. I still have the scar from that blade,” Boger said.

The boot belonged to Zaal. When Boger came to, he was alone in the alley, bloodied and weak. “It was the most lonely, horrible feeling I ever had,” he said.

Rather than go to the police or a hospital he stole bandages and continued living in the park and healing.

“The last thing I wanted to hear was my mom saying ‘I don’t want you,’” Boger said.

He eventually got off the streets, attended a trade school and became a hair colorist. Physically and emotionally scarred, he began volunteering at the Museum of Tolerance, an experience that helped him deal with his own prejudices against non-gay people. He is now the facility’s manager.

And Boger and Zaal are good friends. Boger refers to Zaal as sort of an older brother.

The men’s message is important for students to hear, said Oak Park school board member Marie Panec.

“Our students are good kids but they are naive about the world and what can happen,” Panec said. “By hearing stories like this they can be made aware that intolerance is there in the community and how easily you can get sucked into it.”

“It really showed me how people can change in life and how a sad situation can have an impact on the future and what you do,” said senior Carly Tysch, 17.

COLD SHOT AT 8:00 EASTERN

TUNE IN TONIGHT (MAY 7, 200 AT 8:00 EASTERN TIME FOR THE LATEST ON COLD SHOT WITH NIKKI NICHOLS.

TOPICS INCLUDE:

*THE VNN TAKEOVER

*HATE CRIME NEWS

*STEALTH RACISM IN AMERICA

*RACISM IN THE PRESIDENTIAL RACE

The number to call is… 646-652-2899

JUST CLICK ON THE BLOGTALK BUTTON

COLD SHOT TONIGHT AT 8:00 EASTERN TIME

COLD SHOT WILL AIR TONIGHT AT 8:00 EASTERN TIME ON BLOGTALK RADIO.

TOPICS TO INCLUDE:

*Democrats, Racism, & November

*The Shame of the Sean Bell Trial

*The Comedy of Chris Drake, Michael Blevins, & The Roanoke Pseudo-Nazi

PHONE LINES WILL OPEN AT 8:40.

TO THE SHOW - CLICK ON THE BLOGTALK BUTTON

END THE SILENCE

TO ORIGINAL ARTICLE

RONZONE: End the silence

A day to remember violence against the LBGT community

By: Raquel Ronzone

Posted: 4/24/08

The charge against him is murder as a premeditated hate crime and gun possession. If convicted, the gunman will face 52 years to life in prison.

The most lenient sentence, then, means that Brandon McInerney would walk freely at age 66. Although they were not able yet to drive, the 14-year-old gunman and his 15-year-old target Lawrence King were not too young to become victims of a homophobic society.

Yes, both teenagers were victims - casualties of an America that is not absolutely accepting of homosexuality and is thus culpable for harboring the attitudes that spurred the act of fatal violence between the two boys.

Lawyers have a few weeks - until May 8, the date of McInerney’s arraignment hearing - to decide whether the teenager will remain in adult court or return to juvenile court. The poignant reality, however, is that no legal proceedings - not even the conviction and life sentence of Brandon McInerney, will eradicate the intolerant mentalities that incite homophobic crimes.

The rulings of medical professionals have not changed those mentalities either. In 1973, the American Psychiatric Association finally removed homosexuality from the “Diagnostic and Statistics Manual of Mental Disorders.”

The homophobic motives for the teenage gunman and the classification of the lifestyle as a psychological abnormality are without warrant at best and highly unethical at worst. King’s premature death demonstrates how society still views homosexuality with contempt, judging it as a deviation from normal and correct relationships.

Lawyers and psychiatrists cannot alter this narrow-minded perspective of sexual identity. That is our responsibility. We cannot numbly allow these groundless points of view to thrive, to murder and possibly incarcerate our school-age population.

Tomorrow, the 12th annual Day of Silence, you will have the opportunity to promote acceptance of homosexuality. Vows of silence taken by students will bring attention to the “name-calling, bullying and harassment - in effect, the silencing - experienced by LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) students and their allies,” according to DayofSilence.org. This year’s student-led call to action will honor the eighth-grade murder victim.

The Web site states that “500,000 students at nearly 4,000 K-12 schools, colleges and universities organized Day of Silence events” in the past. Despite this outpouring of support, some people refuse to respect others’ right to live without verbal and physical abuse.

The Day of Truth, a project of the Alliance Defense Fund, “was established to counter the promotion of the homosexual agenda and express an opposing viewpoint from a Christian perspective,” according to DayofTruth.org. The ADF states, “It is part of [GLSEN's] overall strategy to change how our society perceives homosexual behavior. But the Day of Silence is a misnomer because what is truly being silenced is the Truth.”

Can anyone deny that a 15-year old is dead because of his sexual orientation? Can anyone say that raising awareness of the discrimination that our youngest citizens face is dangerous enough to warrant a counterargument?

The “Christian perspective” allegedly promoted by the Day of Truth is far from Christian - turn to theological statements for the actual Christian understanding of homosexuality. The pastoral statement, “Always Our Children,” compiled by U.S. bishops in 1997, declared, “Every person has an inherent dignity because he or she was created in God’s image. A deep respect for the total person leads the church to hold and teach that sexuality is a gift of God … Everyone should acknowledge and accept his sexual identity.”

The intrinsic, divine worth of each person is indeed a true concept but one that will yield to public opinion of homosexuality if we do not take action. By taking a vow of silence tomorrow, you will commemorate Lawrence King, Brandon McInerney and countless other victims of homophobia. With time and diligence, we will no longer need to distinguish LGBT rights from the rights of other Americans.

——————–

Raquel Ronzone is a freshman from Philadelphia, Pa. She can be reached at raquel.ronzone@villanova.edu.

BISCUITS NOT BIGOTS IN NORTH CAROLINA

Beth Jacobs is a recent law-school graduate, a community organizer, and an activist in North Carolina. She is also the Founder and Director of Brown Babies, Inc. With all that she does for others and her community, it is safe to say that her plate is pretty full – but this young woman has stretched even further in the giving of herself and her time. She has now taken on a popular radio host in the Raleigh-Durham area – and we really like what she is doing.

Bob Dumas has come under fire more than once for his blatant racism and insipid commentary. On April 1st, he crossed the line again in a segment that can only be described as racist, hurtful and disturbing.

In response, Jacobs wrote the following OP Ed article that has been published in several local newspapers:

I am my parents’ only daughter. I am a recent law school graduate and a community organizer for a voting rights organization in North Carolina.

I am also a Lumbee Indian.

Because I am Indian, nothing I do is ever as important as the American stereotypes that depict me as a member of a depraved race of people. I grew up hearing all the bad things that Americans say about Indians; brutal savagery, drunken laziness; the tepee and scalping jokes. As an adult, I am still surprised at how often I feel blatantly offended as a Lumbee Indian.

As a resident of the Triangle, I have known for years that local radio station G105, and its owner Clear Channel, permit hate-filled racist misinformation against ALL minorities.

While I have no intention of repeating the derogatory language used by Bob Dumas, the broadcast verbally abused American Indians -and Lumbee Indians specifically- in a 15 minute rant. At one point, his co-hosts asked if they were being offensive with a joke about sitting “Indian-style,” but that only energized their tirade. Worse, he used his intern’s relationship with a Lumbee man to degrade the Lumbee Nation

Mr. Dumas’ intern, Chelsea Prior, a student at The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, must be brought out as the uninformed underling that she was in this situation. I doubt that she expected to be bombarded with such ignorance directed at her fiancé.

Nevertheless, in addition to insulting her family, she has greatly insulted her university. As an alumnus of UNCP, I am most personally offended by her failure to recognize the negative affect that her words would have on the university and community.

The Lumbee people themselves raised money to purchase land and construct a building for the Croatan Indian Normal School. More than a century -and many transformations- later it became The University of North Carolina at Pembroke. Ms. Prior had the cowardice to degrade the very people who built the institution at which she receives her education. I demand that G105 allow her to air a public apology.

In regards to Mr. Dumas and his radio show, I support all efforts to have him permanently removed. Many groups have been offended by this man, and I encourage all our friends to continue the torrent of complaints to G105, Clear Channel and the FCC. I personally request that G105 enter negotiations to discuss an authentic act of contrition that will contribute positively to the community and people they have degraded.

I hope we will all keep in mind that the real issue reaches beyond this local radio show. The lack of accurate information and positive consideration of minority cultures is not limited to North Carolina. Our children’s history books continue to depict us a savages or drunkards. Both the state and federal government have failed to issue any substantive acknowledgement of - much less apology for - Native genocide. Bob Dumas and his racially defamatory radio broadcast are the most recent and most public display of the need for significant reconciliation for American Indians in America.

If we do not stand against hate, our children will suffer the consequences of our idle complaints.

Beth Jacobs
Founding Director, Brown Babies, Inc.
elizabethlachelle@gmail.com

On Monday, April 21st, Jacobs appeared on Citizen’s Against Hate “Cold Shot” with Nikki Nichols and gave an excellent overview of the problems with the Bob Dumas show and how we, as concerned anti-racists, can help.

Below are the links to the various mechanisms by which we can get involved and actually do something to make a difference in this world. Please reach out and give her a hand…you’ll be glad you did.

TO LISTEN TO THE INTERVIEW.

TO THE FACEBOOK GROUP

Please forward a formal complaint to G105 and send the NC Commission of Indian Affairs a copy of the complaint.

WDCG-FM 105.1
General Manager: Dick Harlow
3100 Smoketree Ct Ste 700
Raleigh, NC 27604

Program Director: Randi West
randi@g105.com

G. Richardson, Executive Director

NC Commission of Indian Affairs

1317 Mail Service Center

Raleigh, North Carolina 27699-1317

Main Number: (919) 789-5900

FAX: (919) 420-1373

Webpage: www.doa.state.nc.us/cia/indian.htm

And to tell Bo Jangles that people in North Carolina pay for biscuits not bigots…

CONTACT BO JANGLES

COLD SHOT ON MONDAY - 4-21-08 @ 8:00 EASTERN

EYE ON HATE RADIO NETWORK PRESENTS…
COLD SHOT
With Nikki Nichols

April 21, 2008 Topics:

Polygamy,prejudice, and pedophilia - a follow-up report on the latest out of El Dorado, Texas.

“In the good old times, regulation of minimal age for consensual sex was based on biological reality. As soon as a girl had her first cycle (12-13 years old), parents sought a man to marry them with. Having a child between 16-20 years is what a woman’s body is designed for. This period forms the peak of fertility and, of course, the peak age of sexual drive and appeal.” (from the warped mind of a racist)

Which one is the pig? Why Bob Dumas, a Raliegh, N.C. radio host has caught our attention - along with a special interview with Beth Jacobs, the Founding Director of Brown Babies, Inc. who will shed some light on the racism and bigotry at G105 Radio that needs to be stopped NOW.

“Brown Babies is a nonprofit organization that advocates for the rights of children living in poor communities. While a large percentage of our membership are families of color, Brown Babies speaks out for the right for all children to have opportunities to succeed in America. The continuation of this blatantly bigoted radio show is harmful to all children and should be banned from our public airwaves. Just because hate can be well disguised as humor does not make it any less real or dangerous.” (Beth Jacobs).

There are close to 900 hate groups operating within the United States today. While memership numbers in these groups are small, that doesn’t tell the real story. Forces other than organized white supremacist organizations are reeling in and exploiting many young people within our nation.

The dangers these people pose to our youth are many and far-reaching. Nikki Nichols discusses youth within the “movement” and how to protect your children.

The Hate Crime Blotter - All the events and Hate crimes from around the country this week.

Personal reflections on the deadliest act of domestic terrorism in the U.S. - The Oklahoma City Bombing - 13 years later.

TO THE SHOW - CLICK ON THE BLOG TALK BUTTON

ADDICTED TO HATE

When Fred Phelps of the Westboro Baptist Church brings his family to town it usually creates a scene much like this. As they picket the funerals of our fallen soldiers in an attempt to send their convoluted message of hate to the rest of the world we look on, shake our heads, feel utter disgust and sometimes shout back. But, what do we know about these people?

The children who travel with them are Phelps’ grandchildren and the young of some of his followers. We often gasp as an eight or nine year old waves up a sign that we know he cannot begin to understand. How is it that anyone could allow their children to be permeated with such hate and such vitriol?

Unfortunately, the Phelps’ clan has been engaged in such reprehensible acts for decades. The inner-workings of this cult are hair-raising and chilling beyond belief. In 1994, a reporter, working for Stauffer Communications filed a lawsuit against his employer for the rights to publish a book about the Phelps’ that he had been working on. Stauffer Communications claimed that the work belonged to them. In the court filings, Michael Bell, included a copy of his work making it public record. Eventually, the document was sealed but not before thousands of copies were circulated.

Below is a link to the work as well as the court document. Before the reader begins, however, I must warn you that this is not for the squeamish. It’s not for the faint of heart. It is a look into the sickness that has plagued generations of Phelps’ and the graphic nature of the story causes the stomach to turn. Please keep that in mind…

http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/michael_haggerty/expose3.htm

 

ALL ANTI-RACISTS - A CALL FOR ACTION

A CALL FOR ACTION TO ALL ANTI-RACISTS

PLEASE LISTEN TO THE CALL TO ACTION FOR THE WASHINGTON, DC AREA

IMPORTANT COLD SHOT

DOWNLOAD APRIL 7TH SHOW HERE

COLD SHOT AT 10:00 EASTERN TIME

TOPICS INCLUDE:

*Hating the Haters - a personal message to our critics

*News On The Hate Front - The Hate Crimes Index

*Hal Turner’s Threats To Anti-Racists - Nikki Nichols Responds

CLICK ON THE WINAMP BUTTON AT 10:00