WACANupdate A fortnightly e-magazine, circulation 1,383 News and opinion of interest to the white anti-racist community May 13, 2009 Contact: news@wacan.org Publication schedule Letters to the editor Submission guidelines Privacy Advertising About WACAN   Change from the middle by Jeff Hitchcock A recent and widely reported poll suggests that race relations have improved with Obama’s election and anecdotal evidence backs up the assertion. Historic lines of distrust are thawing as people show a growing willingness to engage one another across racial lines. Change is at hand. Video commentator Jay Smooth sums up some of what’s happening, and maybe some of its limits, in a succinct and astute analysis. The great white center of society is changing, taking slow and awkward steps toward a society centered on multiracial values. As white people change, people of color, too, are moved to adjust. In New Jersey, my home state and not a large one, there has never been (to my knowledge) a workshop on white privilege open to the public until this year. Now there have been two. I attended one two nights ago. It was the final meeting of a four-part event. Among the approximately 40 people there, many spoke about what they were feeling. The white people evinced an awareness of racism and white privilege. Some black people spoke of daring to begin to trust white people they meet. It was all very promising. Oddly missing in all this is any sense of a need for a collective white anti-racist voice. All across the country, seemingly, people are reaching out anew across racial lines and striving toward relationships that test and expand the limits of their racialized experiences in ways that are awkward, but brave and hopeful. Yet the last white anti-racist group to emerge on the national scene came about more than three years ago (AWARE-LA), and the grassroots development of white anti-racist groups seems to have stalled. For now, multiracial relationship-building efforts are ascendant, and the impetus for change is coming from the center, not the margins. Individuals who would call themselves white anti-racists are certainly part of that process, as individuals. But in the present moment a collective white anti-racist identity and movement has not been much of a factor.   Letters to the Editor No letters since the last WACANupdate. Send us a letter Spring fund drive to begin soon It's that time of year again. WACAN will launch its Spring 2009 fund drive beginning on Wednesday, May 20.   IN NEED OF SUPPORT   A call to support student protest against institutional racism at the University of Minnesota--Twin Cities dance program. Update from the Love Park 4 (Phildelphia): Court solidarity and financial assistance needed.     NEWS ITEMS General News Record setting immigration raid leaves husk of a town. Fleeing persecution in their home countries, asylum seekers find it in the U.S. Immigrants stage May Day rallies. Indigenous Canadians face inequality even in death. Obama urged to endorse U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Black Panthers protest death of black man detained by police. Racial profiling legislation goes into effect in Arkansas, and receives consideration in Maine. Rhode Island organizations launch survey of racial profiling incidents. Reverse discrimination suits are becoming more common. White reporter accuses Fox TV of racial bias. California Attorney General says Prop. 209 unconstitutional in some cases. Pennsylvania immigrant murder case reaches verdict Shenandoah, Pennsylvania struggles with fallout from immigrant’s fatal beating. An all white jury acquitted the teenaged boys accused of the crime. The Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) issued a press release calling the verdict unjust. Racism Racism hurts kids’ mental health. Amid swine flue outbreak, racism goes viral. A (presumably white) Vermont man is sentenced for yelling racial epithets at Somali family. A (presumably white) Connecticut man is charged for firing gun at group of black men. Asian immigrants in Canada face harassment and assault. Two (presumably white) Colorado middle school students arrested for threatening to rape Asian girl. Alabama politician removes Confederate flags and a firestorm ensues. Mall of American in Minnesota accused of racial profiling. Valparaiso, Indiana experiences an increase in bias crimes. Black Kentucky firefighter accuses his (presumably white) boss of racial discrimination. Bloomberg appointee Betsy Perry resigns amid furor over racist statements. Miami terrorism trial stalled by racism concerns. Prosecutor’s racial slur provides basis for appeal in New Jersey murder trial. South Dakota police officer alleges racial harassment in department. Racism is alleged in discipline hearing of Arkansas judge. White supremacists White supremacist kills girlfriend’s mixed-race baby. Florida cop killer upset over Obama’s election. New white supremacist group now operating in Michigan. Florida a "hotbed" for extremists. White supremacist group in Kentucky adopts highway, keeps it clean. Good things Miami high school student honored for race relations work. Sojourner Truth’s statue is first of any black woman to appeal in U.S. Capitol. President Obama proposes $1.25 billion to settle long-standing discrimination claims by black farmers. Eau Claire, Wisconsin holds panel on race relations. Middle school in Kansas holds anti-racism week. Campus watch A (presumably white) Tufts freshman admits to racial harassment of Korean students. The university condemned the incident in an email blast to the student body. African-American former student and now retired state Supreme Court justice recalls troubled past at University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Tim Wise set to speak at Ohio University. White Pennsylvania high school student calls for end of white privilege. New Jersey high school student recalls race riot in high school in 1974. International Australian Aboriginal elder dies of heatstroke in police van. New Zealand white supremacist disavows his past, but says he is still "pro white." Malaysia tires to end affirmative action, struggles to strengthen race relations. Google in trouble in Japan for revealing old maps identifying villages of "undesirables." South African Education Ministry calls for revamp of higher education Eurocentric curriculum. Champion race car driver subject to racial mocking in Spain. People of color targeted for stop-and-search in England and Wales. Local groups form to oppose racist British Nationalist Party (Article 1, Article 2). Music auditions held for anti-racism event in Milton Keynes, England. Rescuer cleared in British racism inquiry. White privilege in Latin America has a long history.         HUMOR   How to derail a conversation about racism. Whites file discrimination charges against NBA. Right flu, wrong swine.     ARTS, FASHION & ENTERTAINMENT   White people in rap: A history. Television racism. TLC’s ‘Guess Who’s Coming Over’ explores racism. Ambitious project could help end 100 years of Hollywood racism for Native Americans. Whipped whiteys and other delights: Seven Gabacho-hating Mexican songs. Singer David Alan Coe, unrepentant racist.     PEOPLE & LIFESTYLE   Bill Ayers reflects on activism, the 60s, and white supremacy. A fashion shoot uses new images and tired old tropes. Former skinhead in Florida shares message of tolerance.     HISTORY, HERITAGE & TRANSFORMATION   Happy birthday, John Brown. First public civil rights protest in Mississippi still little known. Human zoos – depravity masquerading as the commonplace.     BOOKS   Playing the Gringo wild card.     OPINION & ANALYSIS   "Who mourns for the Confederate slave? Artur " Jefferson" Davis coons it up," by Jonathan David Farley, D. Phil. the Black Commentator, May 7, 2009. "Why are we surprised when white preppy guys turn out to be murderers?" by Alisa Valdes-Rodriguez. AlterNet, May 6, 2009. "Of swine and scapegoats: Reflections on racism and right-wing nuttery," by Tim Wise. Red Room, May 4, 2009. "The invisible rule of whiteness." Womanist Musings, May 3, 2009. "5 hot new (old) racial stereotypes," by Channing Kennedy. RaceWire, April 29, 2009. "Returning police brutality to the national agenda," by Sherrilyn A. Ifill. the Root, April 27, 2009.     EVENTS How to submit an event CLICK May 15, 2009 New York, NY "Anti-racist organizing in New Jersey: A special report!" Pot luck dinner and dialogue The People's Institute for Survival and Beyond and the AntiRacist Alliance CLICK June 7-8; 9-10, 2009 Richfield, MN "Seeing the face of God in each other: Province VI anti-racism training for The Episcopal Church" Workshop Province VI Anti-Racism Network and the Advocacy Center at The Episcopal Church Center in New York CLICK July 7-12, 2009 Lyons, MN "Doing our own work. A seminar for anti-racist white people" Seminar Allies for Change CLICK July 23-26, 2009 Los Angeles, CA "Unmasking Whiteness Institute" Institute AWARE-LA