Thursday, April 30, 2015
Wednesday, April 29, 2015
Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think | Mother Jones
Police were forcing busses to stop and unload all their passengers. Then, [Frederick Douglass High School] students, in huge herds, were trying to leave on various busses but couldn't catch any because they were all shut down. No kids were yet around except about 20, who looked like they were waiting for police to do something. The cops, on the other hand, were in full riot gear, marching toward any small social clique of students…It looked as if there were hundreds of cops.
Eyewitnesses: The Baltimore Riots Didn't Start the Way You Think | Mother Jones
Tuesday, April 28, 2015
Monday, April 27, 2015
"Our Nation Is Moving Toward Two Societies, One Black, One White--Separate and Unequal": Excerpts from the Kerner Report
“Our Nation Is Moving Toward Two Societies, One Black, One White—Separate and Unequal”: Excerpts from the Kerner Report
"Our Nation Is Moving Toward Two Societies, One Black, One White--Separate and Unequal": Excerpts from the Kerner Report
‘Lynch Mob’: Misuse of Language - NYTimes.com
"For instance, according to the Maryland Historical Society Library: “Mary Denston, the elderly wife of a Somerset County farmer, was returning to her home in Princess Anne on the morning of October 17, 1933 when she was attacked by an assailant. A manhunt quickly began for the alleged perpetrator, 22-year-old African-American George Armwood. He was soon arrested and charged with felonious assault. By 5:00 pm, an angry mob of local white residents had gathered outside the Salisbury jail where the suspect had been taken. In order to protect Armwood from the increasingly hostile crowd, state police transferred him to Baltimore. But just as quickly he was returned to Somerset County. After assuring Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie that Armwood’s safety would be guaranteed, Somerset County officials transferred Armwood to the jail house in Princess Anne, with tragic consequences.
The report continued: “Sources are conflicting regarding many of the details of the assault on Denston and the subsequent murder of George Armwood, but what is certain is that on the evening of October 18 a mob of a thousand or more people stormed into the Princess Anne jail house and hauled Armwood from his cell down to the street below. Before he was hung from a tree some distance away, Armwood was dragged through the streets, beaten, stabbed, and had one ear hacked off. Armwood’s lifeless body was then paraded through the town, finally ending up near the town’s courthouse, where the mob doused the corpse with gasoline and set it on fire.”
As Baltimore’s Afro-American newspaper reported at the time, in addition to Armwood’s blackened skin, mutilated face and missing ear, his tongue was “clenched between his teeth,” giving “evidence of his great agony before death.” It continued: “There is no adequate description of the mute evidence of gloating on the part of whites who gathered to watch the effect upon our people.”
Additionally, according to the historical society, there were 32 lynchings in Maryland between 1882 and 1931."
Excerpt from Charles Blow's column about a family member.
‘Lynch Mob’: Misuse of Language - NYTimes.com
"For instance, according to the Maryland Historical Society Library: “Mary Denston, the elderly wife of a Somerset County farmer, was returning to her home in Princess Anne on the morning of October 17, 1933 when she was attacked by an assailant. A manhunt quickly began for the alleged perpetrator, 22-year-old African-American George Armwood. He was soon arrested and charged with felonious assault. By 5:00 pm, an angry mob of local white residents had gathered outside the Salisbury jail where the suspect had been taken. In order to protect Armwood from the increasingly hostile crowd, state police transferred him to Baltimore. But just as quickly he was returned to Somerset County. After assuring Maryland Governor Albert Ritchie that Armwood’s safety would be guaranteed, Somerset County officials transferred Armwood to the jail house in Princess Anne, with tragic consequences.”
Sunday, April 26, 2015
Native American Actors Walk Off Set of New Adam Sandler Movie Over Racist Jokes | Mother Jones
"About a dozen Native American actors quit the set of a new Adam Sandler film, produced by Netflix, to protest the script's portrayal of Apache culture and what the actors claim are racist jokes about native women and elders."
Black Women Want Top Jobs (but They Aren’t Getting Them) - NYTimes.com
"Discussions about gender inequality in the workplace often assume that women aren’t sure about their ability to lead or don’t want to shoot for high-profile positions. But a new report suggests that such uncertainties are less common with black women than with white women — and that black women may face other barriers that keep them out of high-level jobs.
Twenty-two percent of black women want a powerful job with a prestigious title, compared with just 8 percent of white women, according to the report, released this week by the Center for Talent Innovation, a nonprofit organization that focuses on diversity in the workplace."