Friday, September 10, 2010

The Season of Racial Discontent

Diverse Issues in Higher Education
Dr. Elwood Watson
September 10, 2010

For anyone who thought the election of Barack Obama ushered in an era of post-racial harmony, several events that have transpired over the past few months should assuage any doubts of such a notion. Here are a few of the incidents:
Shirley Sherrod, a 62-year-old Black woman with a long history of civil rights activism, was falsely accused of racial bias by right-wing blogger Andrew Breitbart and is forced to resign from her position as Georgia state director of rural development in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
Oscar-winning director Mel Gibson is caught (for a second time) spewing racist language to his wife including the word ‘nigger’.
A brawl between several Black and White men at a state fair in Iowa City, Iowa was believed to have racial overtones.
Talk show host Laura Schlessinger, in a conversation with a Black female caller, launches into verbal tirade repeating the word ‘nigger’ multiple times.
Fox News host Glenn Beck leads a march in the nation’s capital in an effort “to reclaim the civil rights movement.
Michael Enright, a 21-year-old White college student, is charged with stabbing Ahmed Sharif, a New York cab driver and 43-year-old Bangladeshi immigrant.
A number of right-wing organizations have drummed up perverse propaganda in an effort to convince Americans that Obama is not a Christian.

Full Story: http://diverseeducation.com/blogpost/298/the-season-of-racial-discontent.html

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