The SeeingBlack.com 411
December 2004

Doubts Linger About U.S. Election, David Duke in Russia,
Three Strikes Law Strikes Down Young Blacks

Compiled by the Red-Eye Crew
SeeingBlack.com Contributing Writers

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Yari Yari: Talking Globalization and Racism

NEW YORK—Economic degradation in the South Pacific and David Duke's spread of hate in Russia were just two of the topics discussed at Yari Yari Pamberi: Black Women Writers Dissecting Globalization, October 12 through 16, in New York City. The international conference, sponsored by the Organization of Women Writers of Africa, Inc., brought together fiction writers, poets, performers, visual artists, journalists, scholars, archivists and activists all over the world who are involved in globalization projects. Maya Angelou, Maryse Conde, Jayne Cortez, Paula Giddings, Octavia Butler, Edwidge Danticat, Sonia Sanchez, and Alice Walker were just some of the many conference participants.

The conference workshops and panel discussions addressed a broad range of topics including how women writers and women of African ancestry are affected by war, peace, public health and development. Lily Golden, Ph.D., born in Uzbekistan and currently residing in Russia, and author of Africans in Russia, described the increase in racist and fascist thought in Russia.

"Every week at least one African person is killed in Russia," said Golden, "but [Russian President Vladimir] Putin denies that the killings are racist," and instead claims they "are the doings of mere criminals." Golden attributed the increase in racist behavior against Africans, and other people of color, to the exportation of racism from the United States.

According to Golden, one of the main exporters of racist thought in Russian today is David Duke, the former grand wizard of the knights of the Ku Klux Klan. In this regard, she told the crowd that all of Duke's books have been published in Russian and are now being translated into Arabic. Golden told the audience that Duke has spent long periods of time traveling throughout Russia cultivating support for his White supremacist views, and has recently solidified his ties to Russia by marrying a Russian woman. She added that Duke believes that Russia is the key to White survival. About a month ago, he announced the establishment of his new organization called the European-American Unity and Rights Organization (EURO) whose mission is to defend White interests and rights.

Offering a perspective from the other end of the globe, panelist Jully Makini-Purcell demonstrated the economic impact of environmental racism on tiny-island nations. Makini-Purcell, a native of Gizo in the Solomon Islands, is one of the most recognized writers of the South Pacific. Her work examines the struggles for women's development, nuclear-free independence and conservation.

The Solomon Islands, which are located near Papua New Guinea, has a population made up of Melanesians, Polynesians and Micronesians. Only 15 percent of the population are urban dwellers. Newspapers are virtually unheard of and radios are in short supply. Until the 1980's, many of the people lived an agrarian lifestyle. However, once the islands were "discovered" by the West, the abundant seafood life in the islands' coastal waters became the subject of increased trade and exploitation and now the same tuna that is fished in their seas is canned and sold back to Solomon Islanders for $7.00 a can! Since the 1980s, in order to compete globally, these South Pacific islands have seen their currency devalued steadily.

The Organization of Women Writers of Africa, Inc. is a non-profit literary organization concerned with the development and advancement of the literature of women writers from African and its Diaspora. It was founded in 1991 by poet Jayne Cortez and writer Ama Ata Aidoo of Ghana. —Vonda L. Marshall

The Living Funeral in California

LOS ANGELES—The fight to fix California's Three Strikes Law went from promising to pronounced dead in a week flat after the November 2 election. The Governator's blitz shows why actors should be banned from holding public office. Really. Voters get caught up in Governor Schwarzenegger's Willie Hortonization of the issue with his commercials scaring folks half to death about how rapists and murderers would be released when that is not how Prop. 66 was written.

And what about Damon, the 2nd striker who I recently wrote about in an appeal to vote yes on Prop 66? Well, his hopes were dashed when Prop 66 was narrowly defeated (after leading in the polls) but they were smothered when faced with his 3rd strike. He decided to take his case to a jury and all 12 came back with "Guilty." as the verdict. The question put before them? Did Damon have a Ninja Star called a "Shuriken" which is illegal, although he bought it from a corner store? Yes, the police were kind enough to provide photos.

Was it a Shuriken? Technically, no, and his public defender argued skillfully that, by law, it had a handle, and was made of more than one piece of metal. He showed pics of real Ninja Stars (Shirukens) the kind flipped into the bad guy in martial arts movies. The jury got to know that Damon bought it from the store and thought it was legal but we all know ignorance of the law does not help you. But when the Asian manufacturer of these products came to testify that it was not a throwing star, was made to California code, and therefore not illegal, the judge waved it in his face and said "Did you know this is a felony to own and to distribute these? Do you want to implicate yourself like that? Of course the man called his attorney who advised him not to testify.

Because of another case Damon was facing (his 4th strike), recently Damon had not much choice but to take the deal of 25 years to life in prison. Three strikers must serve at least 85% of their time and if he can get past the parole board, the earliest he can get out would be 2024 at the age of 44. (He is 23 now.)

So to tally up, this young man of 23 is doing 25 to life for: first strike—breaking and entering, second strike—shaking down school kids for money; third strike: possession of an illegal weapon—the Ninja star. Oh, let me tell you about the 4th strike—the other case he took in the deal (if you can call it that) instead of going to trial:

Two years ago he was living in an apartment with his sister. A young girl there was enamored with him and pursued him heavily. The girl, though, a young Latina, was under age, and an apartment manager said she saw him kiss her three times. That's 25 to life for each count— three alleged kisses and one alleged sexually contact—100 years! With police on the phone, the girl accused him of impregnating her, but their tape proved nothing. He knew he could beat the count of rape because he knew he never had sex with her but how could he fight a witness in court about a kiss? If he lost even one of the other counts, he would then be looking at 50 years to life.

Damon's eyes searched his family's eyes for answers. What should I do? The anguish was real, the tears were real. His family felt powerless to help. Since he lost the weapons by jury and since he was in Riverside, 4th in nation on being tough on crime, after much struggling with the concept, and much family crying in the courtroom, he felt he had no choice but to take the 25 to life.

At Damon's hand, no one ever died, no drive bys, no arson, no rape. No embezzlement. And by taking the deal, he can never appeal. The only glimmer of hope in the situation is that since Prop 66 only lost by a slim margin, legislators are looking at making changes to the law so that only violent crimes would be considered for the third strike. We can only hope, for Damon's sake and his two-year-old daughter's sake, they do so sooner rather than later. —Isidra Person-Lynn

Another Stolen Democracy?

If the major media is to be believed, the recent election is a done deal; done... over and done with. It was free and fair, and folks should just accept it, and quietly move on.

If Greg Palast, an American journalist usually working out of London, is to be listened to, American democracy has been ripped off—again.

Palast, author of The Best Democracy Money Can Buy, really did the prodigious legwork to crack the Florida debacle back in 2000. He demonstrated, quite convincingly, it seems to me, how the White House, Florida's Governor, Jeb Bush, and the then-Secretary of State, Katherine Harris, essentially stole the elections there, by undercounting and spoiling sufficient votes to allow Bush to eke out a win in the Sunshine State back in 2000.

Palast now argues that, once again, this time utilizing dirty tricks, and ambitious politicians, the same thing happened in the states of Ohio and New Mexico. In a brief, 4-page internet article, Palast presents facts and figures that once again demonstrates that there is a system in place in the U.S. that uses terms like democracy; but in practice, it's something else again. It's bait and switch; it's hide and don't seek; it's actually the disenfranchisement of hundreds of thousands, and indeed, millions of Americans, based on their race, their ethnicity, and often, their economic class.

Palast reveals how, particularly in poorer and minority districts in Ohio, the old punch-card voting machines were still in use, and such machines have been shown statistically that they 'spoil' a certain percentage of votes. Those same machines led to the infamous 'hanging chads' controversy of four years ago. One doesn't have to be a rocket scientist to see that those who live in poorer, working class, urban districts, tend to vote Democratic, while those who have more means, such as small (and large) business owners tend toward Republicans.

In Ohio, where chads have appeared, these were counted as "undervotes." While these account for some 2% of the state's total, when counted in whole numbers that comes out to 110,000 presumably Democratic votes.

When you factor in the "provisional" ballots of people who were challenged at the voting booth, you can add some 175,000 to 250,000 to that number. Those "provisional" ballots seem like voting ballots, and sound like voting ballots, with one critical difference; Unless there's a legal challenge, or a recount, they are not counted! A similar tale may be told about Mexican-American voters in parts of New Mexico. One journalist from Albuquerque, Renee Blake, reported that, "They were giving them out [meaning provisional ballots] like candy."
[Palast, "Kerry Won. Here's the Facts.", gregpalast.com, (11/5/04), p.3].

If Bush won Ohio, and thus the electoral college's allocation, by 136,483 votes, and at the bare minimum of 285,000 presumably Democratic votes were 'lost, spoiled, or mutilated' in Ohio alone, then who really won?

Why aren't Democrats demanding recounts? Because the corporate media has effectively shut them down. This is a story that they don't want blared around the world, especially at a time when America allegedly is fighting to bring 'democracy' to Iraq!

This really is, now more than ever, a corporate media, that, as we have seen, takes its cues from Wall Street and the White House. A rough and tumble over stolen votes would be bad for the U.S. Imperial image.

Yet, in truth, there is another reason: Democrats sat back, for four years, and didn't fight for the voting rights of tens of thousands of voters in Florida, many of them African-American, Haitian, Jewish, and non-Cuban Hispanics in 2000. Democratic Senators didn't fight back when the Congressional Black Caucus tried to get congressional investigations going into the Florida debacle (and yes— Kerry was among them!).

They didn't fight in 2000; why should they fight in 2004? The voters who were disenfranchised in Florida, Ohio, and New Mexico are disfavored, and disposable. As long as the corporate gelt comes in, it's cool.

Palestinians Called "Filthy Animals" on Imus Show

The Council on American-Islamic Relations CAIR recently called on American Muslims and other people of conscience to contact the MSNBC cable television network to demand an apology for comments made on its "Imus in the Morning" program that referred to Palestinians as "filthy animals" and suggested that they all be killed.

The council also asked that the program's host, Don Imus, be reprimanded for failing to challenge his colleagues' inflammatory remarks. In a letter to MSNBC President Neal Shapiro, CAIR stated: "We are firmdefenders of the First Amendment, but these hate-filled and racist remarks can only serve to legitimize anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry in our society and could lead to further discrimination against members of the Islamic and Arab-American communities." CAIR also filed a complaint with the FCC because "Imus in the Morning" is a nationally-syndicated radio program.

According to the council, this is a transcript of Imus' November 12th program in which he and his on-air colleagues engaged in the following discussion about live coverage of Palestinian President Yasser Arafat's funeral:

DON IMUS: They're (the Palestinians) eating dirt and that fat pig wife of his is living in Paris.

COLLEAGUE: They're all brainwashed, though. That's what it is. And they're stupid, to begin with, but they're brainwashed now. Stinking animals. They ought to drop the bomb right there, kill ‘em all right now…

IMUS: Well, the problem is we have (reporter) Andrea (Mitchell) there; we don't
want anything to happen to her.

COLLEAGUE: Oh, she's got to get out. Andrea, get out and then drop the bomb and
kill everybody…

COLLEAGUE: Look at this. Animals. Animals!

This is not the first time Imus has been involved in a controversy over anti-Arab and Islamophobic remarks. As early as 1985, he was forced to apologize for referring to Arabs as "goat-humping weasels." (Sunday Mail, 4/21/85) He has also been criticized for using the derogatory term "raghead." (Accuracy in Media) In a reference to the crash of an Iranian airliner earlier this year that killed 43 passengers, Imus said, "When I hear stories like that, I think who cares." He then stated: "Too bad it wasn't full of Saudi Arabians." (National Iranian American Council)

Earlier this year, CAIR announced a campaign designed to counter hate speech on talk radio. The campaign, called "Hate Hurts America," is based on the premise that the increasing attacks on Islam by talk show hosts harm the United States by creating a downward spiral of interfaith mistrust and hostility. As part of that campaign, Muslims were given step-by-step instructions on how to monitor local and syndicated radio programs, report anti-Muslim hate, file FCC
complaints, and contact advertisers to register their concerns. http://www.cair-net.org/hatehurtsamerica

— Compiled December 10, 2004

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