We Resist: Day 561

One of the difficulties in resisting the Trump administration, the Republican Congressional majority, and Republican state legislatures (plus the occasional non-Republican who obliges us to resist their nonsense, too, like we don't have enough to worry about) is keeping on top of the sheer number of horrors, indignities, and normalization of the aggressively abnormal that they unleash every single day.

So here is a daily thread for all of us to share all the things that are going on, thus crowdsourcing a daily compendium of the onslaught of conservative erosion of our rights and our very democracy.

Stay engaged. Stay vigilant. Resist.

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Earlier today by me: The Privatization of Compassion and Suspected Russian Spy Discovered Working at U.S. Embassy in Moscow. And late yesterday ICYMI: Sarah Huckabee Sanders Is a Propagandist.

Here are some more things in the news today...

[Content Note: Nativism; dehumanization; disablism] Aaron Rupar at ThinkProgress: During [Vile] Speech, Trump Suggests He May Still Lock up Hillary and Mimics MS-13 Stabbings.

[Donald] Trump delivered a nearly 90-minute-long speech in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania on Thursday night in which he suggested he may yet lock up Hillary Clinton and smeared immigrants as violent murderers.

When Trump mentioned Clinton, the crowd broke out in "Lock her up!" chants. Trump responded by saying, "Some things just take a little bit longer." He then complained that his Justice Department "only wants to go after Republicans. You look at the kind of criminal actions and crime — they only want to go after the Republicans."

Trump focused much of his speech at Thursday's campaign-style rally on immigration, touting his border wall and taking his familiar fearmongering about supposedly criminal immigrants to the extreme.

Trump disclosed that Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh have been advising him to shut down the government unless he gets more than $20 billion in funding for his border wall before the 2018 midterm election.

Trump then lied about the wall, falsely claiming "we're building it." In reality, Trump hasn't received any money to build the structure, which he promised during his campaign that Mexico would fund.

Alluding to a possible shut down, Trump said, "We are going to start to get very nasty over the wall."

At another point, Trump sought to scare people about the risks posed by immigrants by referring to MS-13 as "slicers" and "animals" and mimicking the motions of a person being stabbed.

He is a disgusting human being, and I am relentlessly angry all day every day that he is this nation's president.

Susan B. Glasser at the New Yorker: It's True: Trump Is Lying More, and He's Doing It on Purpose. "The recent wave of misstatements is both a reflection of Trump's increasingly unbound presidency and a signal attribute of it. The upsurge provides empirical evidence that Trump, in recent months, has felt more confident running his White House as he pleases, keeping his own counsel, and saying and doing what he wants when he wants to. The fact that Trump, while historically unpopular with the American public as a whole, has retained the loyalty of more than eighty per cent of Republicans — the group at which his lies seem to be aimed — means we are in for much more, as a midterm election approaches that may determine whether Trump is impeached by a newly Democratic Congress. At this point, the falsehoods are as much a part of his political identity as his floppy orange hair and the 'Make America Great Again' slogan."

Camila Domonoske at NPR: China Announces Retaliatory Tariffs on $60 Billion in U.S. Goods. "China has announced a plan to impose new tariffs on $60 billion of American goods, in retaliation for the latest tariff threats from the Trump administration. Earlier this week, the White House said it was considering boosting tariffs on $200 billion worth of Chinese goods, raising those tariffs to 25 percent from 10 percent. That particular set of tariffs has not yet taken effect. China promptly promised it would take countermeasures of its own. On Friday, the Ministry of Commerce described its planned response: Four different types of tariffs on $60 billion of U.S. goods. The Chinese government did not specify what types of American products would be affected or when those tariffs would take effect."

Catherine Rampell at the Washington Post: We've Finally Learned Trump's Grand Plan for Fixing Health Care. "During his presidential campaign, then-candidate Donald Trump promised to replace Obamacare with 'something terrific.' For a long time, that 'something terrific' was left unspecified. Now, more than a year and a half into Trump's presidency, we have finally learned his grand plan for reducing Americans' health-care costs. It is: Don't get sick. Ever. That, at least, was the message of the administration's new rule expanding the availability of junk insurance plans, finalized Wednesday."

Sophie Weiner at Splinter: Trump Donor Promised Michael Cohen $10 Million to Push for Nuclear Power Plant. "In April, Trump donor Franklin L. Haney apparently agreed to pay Trump's former lawyer Michael Cohen a $10 million fee for successfully lobbying for the building of an unfinished nuclear power plant in Alabama, according to the Wall Street Journal. The contract also asked Cohen to secure a $5 billion loan from the government for the project. This new information is part of the investigation into Cohen’s unregistered lobbying efforts which he undertook after Trump took office."

[CN: Image of gun at link] Nicole Lafond at TPM: Butina Bragged She Was a Spy When Drunk. "According to people who knew her at American University where she attended graduate school, on at least two occasions [alleged Russian spy Mariia Butina] bragged about her Russian government connections after she had imbibed and even said the Russian government was connected to her Moscow gun rights group. According to CNN, classmates were unnerved by her comments and reported her to law enforcement twice. Other classmates told CNN that in classes she was a constant defender of Vladimir Putin and claimed that she was a middleman between [Donald] Trump's campaign and the Russian government."

❗️❗️❗️"With the midterm elections just three months away, campaigns are largely on their own in the increasingly challenging task of protecting sensitive information and countering false or misleading content on social media." https://t.co/iuewdt1UEN

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) August 3, 2018

[CN: Nativism; sex abuse of children; descriptions of sexual assault] Topher Sanders and Michael Grabell at ProPublica: Worker Charged with Sexually Molesting Eight Children at Immigrant Shelter. "A youth care worker for Southwest Key has been charged with 11 sex offenses after authorities accused him of molesting at least eight unaccompanied immigrant boys over nearly a year at one of the company's shelters in Mesa, Arizona, federal court records show. The allegations against Levian D. Pacheco, who is HIV-positive, include [assaults which] are alleged to have taken place between August 2016 and July 2017, according to a court filing last week that laid out the government's case."

[CN: Misogynoir; violence] Sam Levin at the Guardian: 'Justice Is Never Served': Nia Wilson and the Fear of Racial Violence. "'It's impossible and unreasonable for people to expect black folks to take the murder of Nia Wilson outside of white on black violence dynamic,' said Cat Brooks, a longtime Oakland activist and mayoral candidate who helped organize a vigil the day after the murder. 'Black bodies have been under attack by agents of white supremacy for over 400 years.' Diamond Rogers, a 19-year-old cousin of Wilson, said it was important to 'call it what it is ... a hate crime to black women.'"

[CN: White supremacy; class warfare]

"Despite all the ways that the government provided welfare programs to help them, white Americans are willing to cut such programs if they believe that African-Americans and other nonwhites may benefit." A must-read by @chaunceydevega. https://t.co/Ax0yOYbSQm

— Melissa McEwan (@Shakestweetz) August 3, 2018

[CN: Violent anti-Blackness] Sameer Rao at Colorlines: See Trayvon Martin's Parents Get Real on Resilience. "Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin survived the 2012 killing of their teenage son, Trayvon Martin, by George Zimmerman — only to see their child's name dragged through the press and the trial that exonerated his the killer. His death and the legal aftermath pushed the pair into the forefront of the Black Lives Matter movement. Speaking at actions around the country allowed them to build solidarity with other parents of Black children slain by police or vigilantes, as well as with the thousands of demonstrators demanding accountability for such violence. As Fulton told the hosts of 'Ebro in the Morning' radio show [on July 31], their activism remains inextricably tied to their grief and healing."

What have you been reading that we need to resist today?

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This Isn't Funny

[Content Note: Racism; appropriation.]

This image was going around Twitter yesterday, getting lots of laughs.

Trump: "I love the signs behind me... blacks for Trump."

(Held by a white woman) pic.twitter.com/fHtU0nITS6

— Steve Kovach (@stevekovach) October 25, 2016

[Image in tweet shows Donald Trump at a rally, with a crowd behind him, one part of which is an older woman who appears to be white holding up a sign reading "Blacks for Trump."]

This is not funny. It's appropriative garbage. And it's even worse than that: This rally took place in Sanford, Florida—which is the town in which Trayvon Martin was killed.

Trayvon's mother, Sybrina Fulton, is (as I mentioned on Monday) on the campaign trail for Hillary Clinton.

Meanwhile, Trump is holding a rally in the town where her son was killed.

And a white woman is holding up a "Blacks for Trump" sign.

Yeah.

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Death penalty; disablism; descriptions of violence at link] "Ernest Lee Johnson is scheduled to die on Tuesday for the 1994 killing of three convenience store workers in Missouri. He would be the 26th person executed in the US this year and the seventh in Missouri. Only Texas, with 12, has performed more executions. ...Johnson grew up in a troubled home and his attorney, Jeremy Weis, said his IQ was measured at 63 while still in elementary school." Additionally, Johnson has had significant brain surgery that puts him at risk for "a violent and painful seizure upon injection." End the death penalty now.

USians are becoming less religious, but many of the people who are still religious are becoming even more so: "An extensive new survey of more than 35,000 U.S. adults finds that the percentages who say they believe in God, pray daily and regularly go to church or other religious services all have declined modestly in recent years. ...The share of U.S. adults who say they believe in God, while still remarkably high by comparison with other advanced industrial countries, has declined modestly, from approximately 92% to 89%, since Pew Research Center conducted its first Landscape Study in 2007.1 The share of Americans who say they are 'absolutely certain' God exists has dropped more sharply, from 71% in 2007 to 63% in 2014. And the percentages who say they pray every day, attend religious services regularly, and consider religion to be very important in their lives also have ticked down by small but statistically significant margins. ...Among the roughly three-quarters of U.S. adults who do claim a religion, there has been no discernible drop in most measures of religious commitment. Indeed, by some conventional measures, religiously affiliated Americans are, on average, even more devout than they were a few years ago."

[CN: Police brutality; guns; racism; video may autoplay at link] "Hillary Clinton met Monday with a collection of parents whose African-American children have died in shootings at a local Chicago cafe, discussing their loss and outlining her criminal justice reform and gun control plans. The two-hour gathering included the mothers of Trayvon Martin, Jordan Davis, Michael Brown, and Tamir Rice. All African-American women who lost their young children in shootings, the group formed a 'motherhood' in the wake of their losses. ...According to the women, Clinton did not make any explicit promises to them, but did pledge to stay engaged in their causes and work on criminal justice reform. All of them women described the meeting as productive and said Clinton appeared earnest and trustworthy. 'She is a mother and she is a woman and I felt she understood where we were coming from,' said Samaria Rice, mother of Tamir Rice. 'It doesn't matter what color we are, I felt that she really understand where we are coming from.' ...Clinton tweeted about the meeting afterward, saying that she was 'grateful to spend time today with mothers who have lost a child to violence and turned their grief into a national call to action.'" Please, Maude, whoever becomes the next president, do something meaningful for these women; do something so that their 'motherhood' has no new members. Blub.

[CN: Video may autoplay at link] Ben Carson is now the GOP front runner, according to the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll: "Ben Carson has surged into the lead of the Republican presidential race, getting support from 29 percent of GOP primary voters... Carson's 29 percent is followed by Donald Trump at 23 percent, Marco Rubio at 11 percent, Ted Cruz at 10 percent, and Jeb Bush at 8 percent."

Meanwhile, Larry Lessig has ended his joke of a presidential campaign. Okay.

Senator Al Franken is getting serious about Democrats taking back the Senate majority. GOOD!

[CN: Transphobia] "Federal education authorities, staking out their firmest position yet on an increasingly contentious issue, found Monday that an Illinois school district violated anti-discrimination laws when it did not allow a transgender student who identifies as a girl and participates on a girls' sports team to change and shower in the girls' locker room without restrictions. ...The Education Department gave 30 days to the officials of Township High School District 211 to reach a solution or face enforcement, which could include administrative law proceedings or a Justice Department court action. The district could lose some or all of its Title IX funding." They claim to care so much about protecting (cis) girls that they're willing to risk their Title IX funding to defend a transphobic policy. Cool priorities.

(And just because this can't be said enough: If you claim to care about girls, but exclude trans girls, then you don't care about girls. You care about cis privilege.)

[CN: Racism] Planes, trains, and automobiles: "A discussion about an overbooked seat led to six black passengers being kicked off a Spirit Airlines plane at Los Angeles International Airport Monday, and those passengers are claiming discrimination. According to CBS News Los Angeles, a flight attendant asked a couple to change seats because the airline had overbooked. Witnesses say the couple told the attendant that asking them to move was unfair because they'd done nothing wrong. The flight attendant reportedly called the police to have the couple escorted off the plane. When some passengers protested the couple's treatment, the flight attendant asked police to remove them from the plane, too." For fuck's sake.

Twitter has replaced favorite stars with like hearts. Oh.

Neat! "Rare Omura's whale caught on camera for the first time ever."

YES: "Mad Max: Fury Road director George Miller says 'we'll definitely see more' of Tom Hardy in the film's sequels. But, no Mel Gibson." That is a perfect calculation thank you.

LOVE: "Man Built Custom Kayak So He Could Take His Dogs on Adventures." Obviously!

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George Zimmerman: Murderer for God

[Content Note: Racism; guns; eliminationist violence; religious supremacy. Video may autoplay at link.]

Rage. Seethe. Boil.

Although [George Zimmerman] turned down many requests for interviews after he was acquitted for killing 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, he spoke to his divorce lawyer about the case in an interview recorded earlier this month.

...The former neighborhood watchman insisted that he had a "clean conscience" after he was found to be not guilty.

"I believe God has his plans, and for me to second-guess them would be hypocritical, almost blasphemous," he said when asked if he wished the encounter that ended Martin's life would have turned out differently.

..."It's up to God and I put it all in his hands and I do have faith that whatever he has planned out for me is what's best for me. So whatever he's determined whatever he has planned out for me I am along for the ride and I just hope to be strong enough to see his will be done."

You know, occasionally, in response to my expressing ache over some act of violence or disaster, a god-believer will tell me, as if this would ever serve as comfort to an atheist, that it was the will of some god or other. That god works in mysterious ways. That god has a plan, and mere humans can't presume to understand it.

Every time this happens, I think—and will sometimes say, depending on whether the sheer audacious inappropriateness of this rhetoric in the particular moment warrants it—that if this heinous event was an act of god, then, even if some god exists, I reject that god on principle.

If I believed for a moment that some god exists, and George Zimmerman were an agent of his grand plan, I would have nothing for that god and his schemes but undiluted contempt.

As it happens, I know only that George Zimmerman and his murderous fuckery exist, and I direct my contempt in his loathsome direction.

Zimmerman doesn't merely fancy himself a religious warrior carrying out god's plan at the trigger end of a deadly weapon; he is also, naturally, a victim of earthly injustice:

"I feel that now is the perfect time to speak my mind without fear of retaliation by the president, the attorney general, the federal government etc.," Zimmerman explained. "Initially I was extremely alleviated. Quickly that turned into realization that the Department of Justice finding that there was no basis to pursue [federal] charges was just the beginning of a journey — my personal journey — to correct the wrongs that the federal government did. To ensure that it never happens to any innocent American ever again."

He's not worried about making sure that being killed by a racist shitlord armed with a fearful vigilantism and a loaded gun "never happens to any innocent American ever again," but that being investigated and exonerated never happens to any innocent American ever again. Zimmerman imagines that he shouldn't even have been criticized or questioned for murdering another human being in cold blood. He's the real victim.

And according to Zimmerman, "Barack Hussein Obama" was the government official who was the most unfair to him "by far."

"President Obama held his Rose Garden speech stating if I had a son he would look like Trayvon," he explained. "To me, that was clearly a dereliction of duty pitting Americans against each other solely based on race."

"He took what should have been a clear-cut self-defense matter, and still to this day on the anniversary of the incident he held a ceremony at the White House inviting the Martin-Fulton family and stating that they should take the day to reflect upon the fact that all children's lives matter," Zimmerman continued. "Unfortunately for the president, I'm also my parents' child and my life matters as well. And for him to make incendiary comments as he did and direct the Department of Justice to pursue a baseless prosecution he by far overstretched, overreached, even broke the law in certain aspects to where you have an innocent American being prosecuted by the federal government, which should never happen."

Zimmerman whines pitiably like a long-suffering martyr about how his life matters as well, as if being investigated, and then not even held to account, is the same as being fucking dead.

This guy is utterly reprehensible. He murdered a child, and now he whines about being free.

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Justice Department: No Federal Charges for George Zimmerman in Killing of Trayvon Martin

[Content Note: Racism; violence; guns; death.]

Federal Officials Close Investigation Into Death of Trayvon Martin:

The Justice Department announced today that the independent federal investigation found insufficient evidence to pursue federal criminal civil rights charges against George Zimmerman for the fatal shooting of Trayvon Martin on Feb. 26, 2012, in Sanford, Florida. Prosecutors from the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, officials from the FBI, and the Justice Department's Community Relations Service met today with Martin's family and their representatives to inform them of the findings of the investigation and the decision.

"The death of Trayvon Martin was a devastating tragedy. It shook an entire community, drew the attention of millions across the nation, and sparked a painful but necessary dialogue throughout the country," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "Though a comprehensive investigation found that the high standard for a federal hate crime prosecution cannot be met under the circumstances here, this young man's premature death necessitates that we continue the dialogue and be unafraid of confronting the issues and tensions his passing brought to the surface. We, as a nation, must take concrete steps to ensure that such incidents do not occur in the future."

..."Although the department has determined that this matter cannot be prosecuted federally, it is important to remember that this incident resulted in the tragic loss of a teenager's life," said Acting Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta of the Civil Rights Division. "Our decision not to pursue federal charges does not condone the shooting that resulted in the death of Trayvon Martin and is based solely on the high legal standard applicable to these cases."

You may have noticed that both Holder and Gupta referenced the "high standard" that must be met to bring federal hate crime charges. Here is a little bit more about that:

The federal investigation sought to determine whether the evidence of the events that led to Martin's death were sufficient to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that Zimmerman's actions violated the federal criminal civil rights statutes, specifically Section 3631 of Title 42 of the U.S. Code or Section 249 of Title 18 of the U.S. Code, as well as other relevant federal criminal statutes. Section 3631 criminalizes willfully using force or threat of force to interfere with a person's federally protected housing rights on account of that person's race or color. Section 249 criminalizes willfully causing bodily injury to a person because of that person's actual or perceived race. Courts define "willfully" to require proof that a defendant knew his acts were unlawful, and committed those acts in open defiance of the law. It is one of the highest standards of intent imposed by law.

Emphasis mine. And the fact we all know damn well that Zimmerman caused bodily injury to Trayvon Martin because of his race doesn't matter, because the Feds can't prove it.

George Zimmerman just got away with murder again, nineteen days after what would have been Trayvon Martin's 20th birthday, and two days before the third anniversary of his death.

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This F@#king Guy

[Content Note: Domestic violence; misogyny; racism; murder.]

George Zimmerman is a fucking case study on male entitlement and lack of accountability. He literally got away with murder, after a lifetime of his parents and authorities failing to hold him accountable for hurting people. And, even now, he continues to escape meaningful consequences for his violent behavior toward people who don't share his privilege:

George Zimmerman won't be prosecuted on aggravated assault and domestic violence charges for an incident involving his girlfriend earlier this month, the Florida State Attorney's Office said Friday. The office said it reviewed reports and statements provided after Zimmerman's arrest on Jan. 9 and determined no formal charges should be filed. State Attorney Phil Archer said in a statement that "the subsequent recantation by the victim of her initial statement along with new documents provided by the victim and her attorney precludes my office from proceeding further."

Police say Zimmerman threw a wine bottle at his girlfriend during the alleged assault at his Lake Mary home. His lawyer told reporters that while the 31-year-old "has not been lucky with the ladies," he has also had a "rough time" since he was acquitted in the shooting death of unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin in 2013.

Poor soul. What terrible luck to have been repeatedly charged with domestic violence. And I'm sure our hearts all bleed for the "rough time" he's been having since murdering a teenager in cold blood.

The State Attorney dropped the charges because the woman who is dating Zimmerman didn't want to proceed with the case, despite the fact that Zimmerman has a documented history of intimidating and threatening women with whom he's involved.

This should be a huge red flag to police and prosecutors; if she tries to leave him now, it could be extremely dangerous for her. He is a very dangerous man, and he's already gotten away with murder once.

Instead, off he goes to his freedom once again. And his lawyer flippantly quips about how he's unlucky with the ladies.

I'd suggest that the ladies have been rather unlucky with him.

And so was Trayvon Martin.

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Racism; guns; death] Goddammit: "The Justice Department is not expected to bring civil rights charges against George Zimmerman in the 2012 shooting death of Trayvon Martin, according to three law enforcement officials, despite allegations that the killing was racially motivated. The federal investigation of Zimmerman was opened two years ago by the department's civil rights division, but officials said there is insufficient evidence to bring federal charges. The investigation technically remains open, but it is all but certain the department will close it." What is most infuriating about this to me is that the threshold for "evidence" for something that is manifestly obvious is absurd. Of course it mattered that Trayvon Martin was black. Of course it did.

[CN: Illness; death] People in the US are extremely concerned about a single case of Ebola, and that is understandable, but also there are five people being infected every hour in Sierra Leone, and we really need to be sending more resources to help address the epidemic there. Also: Nearly 4,000 children in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone have been orphaned by the epidemic, and UNICEF "fears the number of orphans could double this month."

[CN: Animal imperilment] An estimated 35,000 walruses have crowded onto a single Alaskan beach because there is not enough sea ice to sustain them. "The extraordinary sighting—the biggest known exodus of walruses to dry land ever observed in the Arctic under US control—arrived as the summer sea ice fell to its sixth lowest in the satellite record last month. 'Those animals have essentially run out of offshore sea ice, and have no other choice but to come ashore,' said Chadwick Jay, a research ecologist in Alaska with the US Geological Survey." There is a further risk to the population if the walruses are spooked and stampede. This is so fucking sad.

In good news: "A program that offered long-acting no-cost contraception to U.S. girls and women age 15 to 19 reduced the teenage pregnancy rate by 79 percent over five years and cut the abortion rate by 77 percent, according to the results of a new study. ...The new study comes from the Contraceptive CHOICE Project conducted in the St. Louis area. It was designed to see if teen pregnancy rates could be brought down by aggressively providing information on contraceptives and offering contraception for free." Huh! Who woulda thunk that education about and access to contraception made a difference in pregnancy and abortion rates? OH ONLY EVERYONE WHO IS PRO-CHOICE EVER? Welp!

Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner is reportedly trying to convince Jeb Bush to run for president, because Boehner "sees Bush as undeniably the strongest, most viable candidate who could pull the party together after a bruising primary and take on a formidable Hillary Clinton." (Who hasn't announced a candidacy.) Also: George W. Bush thinks his little bro totes wants to be prez. Well, I guess that settles it!

These two restaurateurs are opening a restaurant where they will pay their waitstaff a liveable wage, offer healthcare benefits, and give them some paid vacation days and sick time. That sounds good! They will also ban tipping. Really? Hmm. I think as a customer I'd prefer a "you're not obliged to tip, but you certainly can if you like" model. I dunno. It's not like there aren't plenty of other service professions where people get tipped, even if they're already making a liveable wage.

Here is Gillian Anderson talking about sexism in the entertainment industry. For the record, I would not talk to her about either The X-Files or Jamie Dornan. I would talk to her about how she says brave things about sexism in the entertainment industry.

This may be a useful starting point for you if you've got stray and/or feral cats in your area and want to figure out a way to help.

And finally! This is an amazing and moving video of workers with Animal Aid Unlimited India helping a dog who'd fallen into a pool of tar that had hardened, leaving him stuck to the ground. Dogs are incredibly resilient! (If you can't view the video, there is a story here.)

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today...

[Content Note: Police militarization] At ProPublica, Hanqing Chen has collected a "few facts you might have missed about the flow of military equipment and tactics to local law enforcement." It's a terrific round-up.

[CN: Police violence; racism] At the ACLU, Nusrat Choudhury documents that the "killing of black men in incidents that begin as investigatory police stops are anything but unusual in America. In this sense, Ferguson is Everytown, U.S.A."

[CN: Guns; death; racism; victim-blaming] Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mother, pens a heartbreaking and powerful letter to Michael Brown's family: "Further complicating the pain and loss in this tragedy is the fact that the killer of your son is alive, known, and currently free. In fact, he is on paid administrative leave. Your own feelings will bounce between sorrow and anger. Even when you don't want to think about it because it is so much to bear, you will be forced to by merely turning on your television or answering your cell phone. You may find yourselves pulled in many different directions by strangers who may be well-wishers or detractors. Your circle will necessarily close tighter because the trust you once, if ever, you had in 'the system' and their agents are forever changed. Your lives are forever changed."

[CN: Guns] In Florida, a 7-year-old boy is in critical but stable condition after being shot by his grandmother, who thought he was an intruder: "Just before 1 a.m. EST, she heard a chair that she had put against the bedroom door handle for extra protection sliding on the wood floor. Thinking it was an intruder, she fired a shot in the dark from a .22-caliber revolver she kept by the bed, authorities said. 'Seconds after firing, she heard the screams of her grandson, Tyler,' the sheriff's office said in statement." I don't even have fucking words.

[CN: War on agency] Welp: "Seven in ten Americans don't think the government should enact any new laws to further restrict abortion, according to a new national poll commissioned by NARAL Pro-Choice America. ...[The poll] offered respondents more detailed options to indicate their opinions on abortion than simply asking them whether they're 'pro-choice' or 'pro-life.' Respondents could choose between the following statements: 'I believe having an abortion is morally acceptable and should be legal,' 'I am personally against abortion for myself and my family, but I don't believe government should prevent a woman from making that decision for herself,' or 'I believe having an abortion is morally wrong and should be illegal.' About 45 percent of respondents chose the middle category, indicating that they personally oppose abortion but don't necessarily support enacting further restrictions on it. NARAL says that this is the sector of the population that's typically underrepresented in polls."

(I wish I thought that this would slow down anti-choice fuckery in state legislatures, but I don't think that legislators who don't care what women et. al. want for our own bodies will care what respondents in a poll want, either. I hope I'm wrong, though!)

[CN: Homophobia] Ugandan refugees who fled the country's vile anti-gay law are finding life just as difficult in Kenya, where homosexuality is also illegal. "The United Nations' refugee agency has taken note of the difficulties facing the refugees and has expressed its intention to expedite the relocations of the 35 Ugandan refugees officially registered as LGBT with the U.N." So awful.

[CN: Animal abuse] A new study has found that poaching African elephants for their ivory is now outpacing the elephants' birth rates, leaving elephants in critical danger of becoming extinct within 100 years, failing meaningful intervention. Jesus Jones. No one needs an elephant tusk except for an elephant!

[CN: Violence] Keanu Reeves is going to star in a television series for the first time, about "contract assassin who specializes in taking out his targets by making it look like death by natural causes." Does that sound like something you would watch? It doesn't sound like something I'd watch, except for the fact that Keanu Reeves is in it, which means I will definitely give it a try!

Congratulations to obstacle courser Meagan Martin, who became the first woman ever to complete the Jumping Spider obstacle on American Ninja Warrior last night. SO EXCITING! WOOT!

And finally! 2,217 pets were adopted on Empty the Shelter Day in the Dallas area, which was started to help contend with the overcrowding in shelters during summer months. "[Irving Animal Services manager Corey Price] said people camped out in tents Friday at Collin County Animal Services to get a chance to adopt pets." Amazing. ♥

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The Monday Blogaround

This blogaround brought to you by snow.

Recommended Reading:

Jamilah: Beyoncé's Surprise Album Sells 430k in Less Than 48 Hours

Crunktastic: [Content Note: Discussion of misogynist epithets, racism, choice policing] 5 Reasons I'm Here for Beyoncé, the Feminist

Lauren: [CN: Racism; violence] One Billion Rising Canada: February 14 Is Reserved for Indigenous Women

Flavia: The Language of Solidarity

Fannie: [CN: Homophobia] NOM Offended by Legal Realities

Angry Asian Man: [CN: Violence; racism; Islamophobia; xenophobia] Man Sentenced in Hate Crime Attack on Sikh Cab Driver

BYP: Parents of Trayvon Martin to Write Book about Slain Son

Trudy: No Fucks (LOL FOREVER. I love Trudy with ten million hearts.)

Leave your links and recommendations in comments...

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

[Content Note: Homophobia; illness] Chicago couple Patricia Ewert and Vernita Gray will be the first same-sex couple to marry in Illinois, as "a federal judge intervened this week and allowed the two women, in their mid-60s, to get an expedited marriage license as Gray suffers from terminal cancer." All the blubs.

President Obama is not having it with the opposition to the Affordable Care Act: "Yes, we're going to continue to implement the health care law. The product is good, people want it... Anybody who's going to keep on pushing against that, they will meet my resistance, because I am willing to fix any problems that there are, but I'm not going to abandon people to make sure that they've got health insurance in this country."

[CN: Animal cruelty; there are images of injured animals at the link] This is a long and difficult but very important read about the American Humane Association and its bullshit "No Animals Were Harmed" trademark accreditation seen at the end of film and TV credits.

[CN: Misogyny] Breaking News: Women can't win when it comes to asking for more money from employers.

[CN: Racism] Conservative dipshit Dinesh D'Souza tweeted "I am thankful this week when I remember that America is big enough and great enough to survive Grown-Up Trayvon in the White House!" yesterday, and then deleted it. Because principles. Gotta love (not love) people who think that calling someone "Trayvon Martin" is an insult.

[CN: Rape culture; sexual violence] Jess on Jameis Winston, the Florida State quarterback who is accused of raping a woman a year ago and still hasn't faced charges, and the Overlapping of Football Culture and Rape Culture.

[CN: Guns] Sure: "Gun Owners of America Executive Director Larry Pratt recently warned unarmed Americans that he had found firearms in the Bible, and that was proof that God was 'judging' unarmed Americans and 'blessing' the gun owners."

Here are just a million great pictures of dog photobombing photos. Enjoy!

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

NBC News Investigations published what it clearly feels is a BIG STORY about how the Obama administration knew that millions of people would not be able to keep their health insurance once the Affordable Care Act rolled out. Over at Think Progress, Igor details what's wrong with that story. What's really at issue is not so much that some people will lose their current health coverage (generally for better health coverage), but that Obama sold the plan with the lie (and, ahem, some people pointed out it was a lie at the time) that anyone who loved their health coverage would definitely be able to keep it. The truth is, as Jon puts it so well here: "The scandal is not that reform will change people's insurance. After all, the point of any 'reform' is to change things. The scandal is that Obama lied the whole time and kept lying even after his administration set the rules making sure this impossible promise would never be kept."

The NSA is in hot water, now that Congressional Republicans are pretending to care about surveillance since they calculate it might hurt President Obama. I'd prefer it if they were concerned about it because they have integrity and decency, but we'll have to settle for the principle of Whatever Hurts the Democratic President!

[Content Note: Guns] Sybrina Fulton, Trayvon Martin's mom, is an amazing woman. Today, she will testify before the US Senate Judiciary Committee as part of a hearing on clarifying "Stand Your Ground Laws." Fulton will have to speak in front of Senators who defend these heinous laws. In prepared testimony, she will tell them that Stand Your Ground "in its current form is far to open to abuse."

Fingers crossed: "As lawmakers gather in Honolulu for a special session to consider marriage equality legislation, Hawaiian news outlets are reporting that both chambers have secured the votes necessary for passage."

John McCain definitely thinks Hillary Clinton will run for president and win, because he's already angling for a spot in her cabinet. He's also throwing a bone to Biden, just in case.

This is not good: "Scientists said Monday they have for the first time documented that an Asian carp species has successfully reproduced within the Great Lakes watershed, an ominous development in the struggle to slam the door on the hungry invaders that could threaten native fish."

A Golden Girls Lego Set. WANT.

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FO, L&O:SVU

[Content Note: Racism; violence; rape culture; appropriation.]

Hey, remember when I wrote back in August about how the putrid Law & Order: SVU was planning a Very Special Episode intended to be a hugely inappropriate mash-up of Trayvon Martin's murder, Paula Deen's racism, and NYPD's stop-and-frisk policy...?

Welp, it aired last night, and surprise! It was contemptible garbage.

That fucking show.

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In the News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

Today is the anniversary of the terrorist attack of 9/11/01. Because the events of that day remain very triggering for a number of our readers and at least one of our contributors who was living in NYC at the time, I'm not going to be sharing images or writing anything evocative about what happened that day. There are plenty of other places to find that, if you are so inclined to mark the day that way. If you would like to read something that I wrote another year to mark the day, I will simply direct you here.

[Content Note: Guns; violence. Please note that video begins to play automatically at second link.] Police say that either George Zimmerman or his attorney are lying about Zimmerman having a gun at the scene of the attack on Zimmerman's estranged wife Shellie and her father. Rather, his former attorney. Because Mark O'Mara has quit.

In related news, the attorney for the medical examiner in the Trayvon Martin case, Dr. Shiping Bao, is preparing a $100 million lawsuit against the office of the medical examiner, the state attorney's office, and the Sanford Police Department, who he asserts were all biased against Martin. He alleges he was "wrongfully fired from the medical examiner's office" after being told to withhold testimony that did not favor Zimmerman.

[CN: Guns] Two Colorado state senators, John Morse and Angela Giron, both Democrats, have been voted out of office in a recall vote after they "provided crucial support for a slate of tough new gun-control laws. ...The election, which came five months after the United States Senate defeated several gun restrictions, handed another loss to gun-control supporters. It also gave moderate lawmakers across the country a warning about the political risks of voting for tougher gun laws." Swell.

Brittney Cooper has some great ideas about black women who are excellent candidates the be the next president of the NAACP.

[CN: Rape culture] Democratic California Governor Jerry Brown has signed three new anti-predation laws: "The first bill, AB 65, closes a loophole in California rape law by clarifying that someone who impersonates another person in order to coerce someone into sexual activity can be prosecuted for rape. ...Brown also signed AB 157, which will make false impersonation on the internet a criminal act of domestic violence, and AB 161, which will allow courts to ban domestic abusers from changing any insurance policies shared with their partners."

Congratulations to the US men's soccer team on earning another trip to the World Cup! The men's World Cup is next year; the next women's World Cup is in 2015.

[CN: Child abuse; sexual abuse; racism; disablism; exploitation] Reuters has an incredible five-part series on the United States' underground market for adopted children—specifically parents who have adopted internationally and now want to offload the child, or "disrupt" the adoption, which is accomplished in violation of laws that are not enforced, often by simply placing ads on the internet seeking to "re-home" the child, like an unwanted pet. It is tough but important reading.

AMC has canceled The Killing again. NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! BUT IT WAS SO GREAT LAST SEASON! Dammit.

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Nope

[Content Note: Racism; violence; rape culture; appropriation.]

In case you are not aware of my feelings about Law & Order: SVU, I hate it. Like, a lot. It is my go-to show when I need to hate-watch something, because I hate it SO MUCH and it gives me ALL THE THINGS about which to scream at the TV.

Also, it is ALWAYS ON, in endless marathons, so I can redirect my rage at it pretty much any minute of any hour of any day.

Anyway.

Check out this shit:

Law & Order: SVU never shies away from keeping up with the cultural zeitgeist.

"Keeping up with the cultural zeitgeist" is an almost perfect euphemism for "exploiting the most gruesome stories of the harm human beings do to one another that are currently in the news." But I digress.

Wednesday, pictures from the SVU set emerged on BuzzFeed and speculation mounted about whether or not the images might suggest that the show was taking on the controversial George Zimmerman trial so soon. In fact, the SVU writers have taken things one step further and combined two of the year's biggest headlines: The trial of Zimmerman over the killing of Florida teen Trayvon Martin and the Paula Deen scandal.

Ha ha sounds terrific! What could go wrong? This show is definitely known for sensitivity rather than sensationalism, so I'm sure it will be AMAZEBALLS, as the kids say!

"[Jeffrey] Tambor is a defense attorney representing a very high-profile celebrity woman chef who thought she was being pursued by a rapist and turned around it was a teenager. And she shot him," said [Executive Producer Warren Leight] in an interview with EW. "There's a lot of stop and frisk elements to that as well."

Neat! I hope they find a way to cram in some totally trenchant commentary about the decimation of the Voting Rights Act. Maybe the Paula Deen proxy could fart on the Statue of Liberty. SYMBOLISM.

They won't be shying away from the big questions either, according to Leight. "Is racial profiling justifiable? Can self-defense involve racial profiling? We're diving right into that," he said. "Can that happen in New York? Absolutely."

Be prepared for the episode to divide audiences. According to Leight, it even exposed divisions within the SVU team. "When the script was published it became a litmus test for everybody here," he said. "It was really interesting to see people read that script and have different interpretations about who did what and whether or not they deserved prison for it. It was fascinating."

I'll bet! What a fascinating episode it will be for us all.

"Something something the government and privacy."—Munch. JACKPOT.

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Quote of the Day

[Content Note: Violence; racism.]

"You can't give people the authority, whether civilian or police officers, the right to just stop somebody because of the color of their skin."—Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, speaking about New York City's "Stop and Frisk" policy on Meet the Press yesterday.

I love that she connected the overtly institutionally-supported "Stop and Frisk" policy to the covertly institutionally-supported vigilantism of men like George Zimmerman. I hate that she had to do it. But I love that she did it.

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In The News

Here is some stuff in the news today!

Trayvon Martin's parents, Sybrina Fulton and Tracy Martin, have met with federal investigators and prosecutors to discuss the status of the Justice Department's investigation of their son's murder. Still no news on whether there will be federal charges, though.

[Content Note: Sexual harassment] Another day; another woman comes forward with sexual harassment allegations against San Diego Mayor Bob Filner. That makes nine.

Democratic Minnesota Representative Keith Ellison continues to be a good egg and makes me joyblub by singing "This Land Is Your Land" in celebration of legalized same-sex marriage in his state.

Anita Sarkeesian, professional badass, debuts Episode Three of Tropes vs. Women.

[CN: Gendered violence; attempted murder; rape; coercion] I don't write about "feminist ally" Hugo Schwyzer because fuck him. But he has decided to leave the internets because, after disclosing his history of attempted murder and rape, and affairs with students, he was subjected to the same sort of harassment I get every day just for being a fat feminist woman who asserts her right to take up space in the world, having not tried to murder or rape anyone. He is terrible. But this piece by Dianna E. Anderson about redemption narratives is great and you should definitely read it.

James Cameron is going to film three Avatar sequels all at once! Pretty exciting news for people who enjoyed Avatar, I guess! I am not one of those people! But I'm happy for anyone who is so excited!

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Race Had Something to Do With It

[Content Note: Violence; racism.]

Race "had nothing to do with" George Zimmerman stalking and killing Trayvon Martin, and race "had nothing to do with" the verdict of the almost entirely white jury that found Zimmerman not guilty of murder, or even manslaughter, in the killing of a black teenage boy. So say white supremacist apologists. Because they are mendacious fucks.

But race appears to have had something to do with this case:

The not-guilty verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman has produced dramatically different reactions among blacks and whites, with African Americans overwhelmingly disapproving of the jury's decision and a bare majority of whites saying they approve of the outcome, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.

...The new survey underscores not only the gap between whites and blacks, but also how passionate many African Americans are about the case. Among African Americans, 86 percent say they disapprove of the verdict — with almost all of them saying they strongly disapprove — and 87 percent saying the shooting was unjustified.

In contrast, 51 percent of whites say they approve of the verdict while just 31 percent disapprove. There is also a partisan overlay to the reaction among whites: 70 percent of white Republicans but only 30 percent of white Democrats approve of the verdict. Among all whites, one-third say the shooting was unjustified, one-third say it was justified and the other third say they didn't know enough to have an opinion.

That's an interesting frame—that black people are "passionate" about the case, since "passionate" is frequently wielded as a dog-whistle against marginalized populations to suggest we are "oversensitive."

Another way to frame it is that black people are more engaged with this case because white privilege affords white people the luxury of apathy—and abets the pathetic fantasy that race is irrelevant in the stalking and killing of a black boy by a not-black man.

It also enables the garbage belief that these poll results are merely reflective of something within a void around the case, and not evidence of the racist culture in which the crime and trial happened in the first place.

White apologists will defend the disparity with tired arguments about how they are just more objective, ignoring that privilege doesn't not make one more objective; it merely gives one a different perspective—that of someone who benefits from oppression, as opposed to being marginalized by it.

The truth is, a justice system that systematically disenfranchises black jurors and disproportionately favors white jurors in a culture where whiteness is privileged and white people view themselves as objective arbiters of crimes that "have nothing to do with" race, is not a system of justice. It's an institutional-level Validity Prism.

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President Obama on Zimmerman Verdict

President Obama just gave a brief, unannounced address on the killing of Trayvon Martin and the verdict in the trial of George Zimmerman. It was an address a white president could not give. It is so important.

MSNBC is replaying it right now, for anyone who missed it. Their quick summary is here.

As soon as video and transcript become available, I will post them here. (Edit: Transcript below. Video can be viewed here.)

Thank you, Mr. President. Thank you.

UPDATE 1: Via the Washington Post, here is the transcript of the President's address:

REPORTERS: Whoa!

Q: Hello.

PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: That’s so -- that’s so disappointing, man. Jay, is this kind of -- the kind of respect that you get? (Laughter.)

Q: Wake up!

Q: What brings you out here, Mr. --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: You know, on -- on -- on television it usually looks like you’re addressing a full room.

Q: (Laughs.) It’s just a mirage.

Q: There’s generally not --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: All right.

(Cross talk.)

Q: (Inaudible) -- got the Detroit story.

PRESIDENT OBAMA: I got you. All right. Sorry about that. Do you think anybody else is showing up? Good.

Well, I -- I wanted to come out here first of all to tell you that Jay is prepared for all your questions and is -- is very much looking forward to the session.

Second thing is I want to let you know that over the next couple of weeks there are going to obviously be a whole range of issues -- immigration, economics, et cetera -- we’ll try to arrange a fuller press conference to address your questions.

The reason I actually wanted to come out today is not to take questions, but to speak to an issue that obviously has gotten a lot of attention over the course of the last week, the issue of the Trayvon Martin ruling. I gave an -- a preliminary statement right after the ruling on Sunday, but watching the debate over the course of the last week I thought it might be useful for me to expand on my thoughts a little bit.

First of all, you know, I -- I want to make sure that, once again, I send my thoughts and prayers, as well as Michelle’s, to the family of Trayvon Martin, and to remark on the incredible grace and dignity with which they’ve dealt with the entire situation. I can only imagine what they’re going through, and it’s -- it’s remarkable how they’ve handled it.

The second thing I want to say is to reiterate what I said on Sunday, which is there are going to be a lot of arguments about the legal -- legal issues in the case. I’ll let all the legal analysts and talking heads address those issues.

The judge conducted the trial in a professional manner. The prosecution and the defense made their arguments. The juries were properly instructed that in a -- in a case such as this, reasonable doubt was relevant, and they rendered a verdict. And once the jury’s spoken, that’s how our system works.

But I did want to just talk a little bit about context and how people have responded to it and how people are feeling. You know, when Trayvon Martin was first shot, I said that this could have been my son. Another way of saying that is Trayvon Martin could have been me 35 years ago. And when you think about why, in the African- American community at least, there’s a lot of pain around what happened here, I think it’s important to recognize that the African- American community is looking at this issue through a set of experiences and a history that -- that doesn’t go away.

There are very few African-American men in this country who haven’t had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store. That includes me.

And there are very few African-American men who haven’t had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars. That happens to me, at least before I was a senator. There are very few African-Americans who haven’t had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off. That happens often.

And you know, I don’t want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African-American community interprets what happened one night in Florida. And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.

The African-American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws, everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws. And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case.

Now, this isn’t to say that the African-American community is naive about the fact that African-American young men are disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system, that they are disproportionately both victims and perpetrators of violence. It’s not to make excuses for that fact, although black folks do interpret the reasons for that in a historical context.

We understand that some of the violence that takes place in poor black neighborhoods around the country is born out of a very violent past in this country, and that the poverty and dysfunction that we see in those communities can be traced to a very difficult history.

And so the fact that sometimes that’s unacknowledged adds to the frustration. And the fact that a lot of African-American boys are painted with a broad brush and the excuse is given, well, there are these statistics out there that show that African-American boys are more violent -- using that as an excuse to then see sons treated differently causes pain.

I think the African-American community is also not naive in understanding that statistically somebody like Trayvon Martin was probably statistically more likely to be shot by a peer than he was by somebody else.

So -- so folks understand the challenges that exist for African-American boys, but they get frustrated, I think, if they feel that there’s no context for it or -- and that context is being denied. And -- and that all contributes, I think, to a sense that if a white male teen was involved in the same kind of scenario, that, from top to bottom, both the outcome and the aftermath might have been different.

Now, the question for me at least, and I think, for a lot of folks is, where do we take this? How do we learn some lessons from this and move in a positive direction? You know, I think it’s understandable that there have been demonstrations and vigils and protests, and some of that stuff is just going to have to work its way through as long as it remains nonviolent. If I see any violence, then I will remind folks that that dishonors what happened to Trayvon Martin and his family.

But beyond protests or vigils, the question is, are there some concrete things that we might be able to do? I know that Eric Holder is reviewing what happened down there, but I think it’s important for people to have some clear expectations here. Traditionally, these are issues of state and local government -- the criminal code. And law enforcement has traditionally done it at the state and local levels, not at the federal levels.

That doesn’t mean, though, that as a nation, we can’t do some things that I think would be productive. So let me just give a couple of specifics that I’m still bouncing around with my staff so we’re not rolling out some five-point plan, but some areas where I think all of us could potentially focus.

Number one, precisely because law enforcement is often determined at the state and local level, I think it’d be productive for the Justice Department -- governors, mayors to work with law enforcement about training at the state and local levels in order to reduce the kind of mistrust in the system that sometimes currently exists.

You know, when I was in Illinois I passed racial profiling legislation. And it actually did just two simple things. One, it collected data on traffic stops and the race of the person who was stopped. But the other thing was it resourced us training police departments across the state on how to think about potential racial bias and ways to further professionalize what they were doing.

And initially, the police departments across the state were resistant, but actually they came to recognize that if it was done in a fair, straightforward way, that it would allow them to do their jobs better and communities would have more confidence in them and in turn be more helpful in applying the law. And obviously law enforcement’s got a very tough job.

So that’s one area where I think there are a lot of resources and best practices that could be brought bear if state and local governments are receptive. And I think a lot of them would be. And -- and let’s figure out other ways for us to push out that kind of training.

Along the same lines, I think it would be useful for us to examine some state and local laws to see if it -- if they are designed in such a way that they may encourage the kinds of altercations and confrontations and tragedies that we saw in the Florida case, rather than diffuse potential altercations.

I know that there’s been commentary about the fact that the stand your ground laws in Florida were not used as a defense in the case.

On the other hand, if we’re sending a message as a society in our communities that someone who is armed potentially has the right to use those firearms even if there’s a way for them to exit from a situation, is that really going to be contributing to the kind of peace and security and order that we’d like to see?

And for those who resist that idea that we should think about something like these “stand your ground” laws, I just ask people to consider if Trayvon Martin was of age and armed, could he have stood his ground on that sidewalk? And do we actually think that he would have been justified in shooting Mr. Zimmerman, who had followed him in a car, because he felt threatened?

And if the answer to that question is at least ambiguous, it seems to me that we might want to examine those kinds of laws.

Number three -- and this is a long-term project: We need to spend some time in thinking about how do we bolster and reinforce our African-American boys? And this is something that Michelle and I talk a lot about. There are a lot of kids out there who need help who are getting a lot of negative reinforcement. And is there more that we can do to give them the sense that their country cares about them and values them and is willing to invest in them?

You know, I’m not naive about the prospects of some brand-new federal program.

I’m not sure that that’s what we’re talking about here. But I do recognize that as president, I’ve got some convening power.

And there are a lot of good programs that are being done across the country on this front. And for us to be able to gather together business leaders and local elected officials and clergy and celebrities and athletes and figure out how are we doing a better job helping young African-American men feel that they’re a full part of this society and that -- and that they’ve got pathways and avenues to succeed -- you know, I think that would be a pretty good outcome from what was obviously a tragic situation. And we’re going to spend some time working on that and thinking about that.

And then finally, I think it’s going to be important for all of us to do some soul-searching. You know, there have been talk about should we convene a conversation on race. I haven’t seen that be particularly productive when politicians try to organize conversations. They end up being stilted and politicized, and folks are locked into the positions they already have.

On the other hand, in families and churches and workplaces, there’s a possibility that people are a little bit more honest, and at least you ask yourself your own questions about, am I wringing as much bias out of myself as I can; am I judging people, as much as I can, based on not the color of their skin but the content of their character? That would, I think, be an appropriate exercise in the wake of this tragedy.

And let me just leave you with -- with a final thought, that as difficult and challenging as this whole episode has been for a lot of people, I don’t want us to lose sight that things are getting better. Each successive generation seems to be making progress in changing attitudes when it comes to race. I doesn’t mean that we’re in a postracial society. It doesn’t mean that racism is eliminated. But you know, when I talk to Malia and Sasha and I listen to their friends and I see them interact, they’re better than we are. They’re better than we were on these issues. And that’s true in every community that I’ve visited all across the country.

And so, you know, we have to be vigilant and we have to work on these issues, and those of us in authority should be doing everything we can to encourage the better angels of our nature as opposed to using these episodes to heighten divisions. But we should also have confidence that kids these days I think have more sense than we did back then, and certainly more than our parents did or our grandparents did, and that along this long, difficult journey, you know, we’re becoming a more perfect union -- not a perfect union, but a more perfect union.

All right? Thank you, guys.

Q: Could you --

PRESIDENT OBAMA: Now you can -- now you can talk to Jay.

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They're Lying

by Stephanie Rogers, Co-Founder and Managing Editor of Bitch Flicks

[Content Note: Racism; violence.]

Last night, I got into an argument on Facebook. With my grandma. Why? Because of the Zimmerman acquittal. I'd been fighting with her kids—my conservative (white) uncles—on Facebook the whole week leading up to the verdict. Nasty e-mails and text messages have been flying all over the place in this family. So, in the aftermath of the verdict, and their subsequent gloating on Facebook, I've honestly been trying to understand the Zimmerman trial from their perspective. And I came to the conclusion that, for them, this trial was about their Zimmerman's rights.

It was about their Zimmerman's right to carry a concealed weapon.

It was about their Zimmerman's right as a member of the Neighborhood Watch to patrol his neighborhood and protect it from any further home invasions.

It was about their Zimmerman's right to ignore an emergency dispatcher's orders to stop following Martin—because a dispatcher is NOT the same as, and doesn't have the same authority as, a police officer.

It was about their Zimmerman's right to get out of his car and follow someone who was on private property and looked suspicious.

It was about their Zimmerman's right to defend himself, to stand his ground, when confronted by Trayvon Martin.

It was about their Zimmerman's right NOT to be a victim.

Essentially, this trial had little to do with Zimmerman for my conservative relatives. It was about their rights. Who knows when they might be in a similar situation? Who knows when they might need to protect themselves, their families, their neighbors, their property, only to be attacked and forced to defend themselves with lethal force? And if it were to happen to them, why should they be on trial for exercising their rights?

They unquestionably identify with Zimmerman's fear of a black teenager. They refuse to acknowledge Trayvon Martin's fear of being stalked by a stranger.

Last night, my grandma asked me on Facebook, "Why does everything have to be a race issue?"

Where does one begin?

I want to be able to talk to people in my family about these things. I love them. But I find their viewpoints despicable. And it's difficult to separate someone's viewpoints from who they are, fundamentally, as people. I realized right when she asked the question, "Why does everything have to be a race issue?" that I'd never be able to talk to them about how this trial was never anything other than a "race issue." To even be asked a question like that after a man followed an unarmed black teenager and killed him … where does one begin?

My mother (a person who understands that racism is still a thing) tells me to ignore them, that they've lived their whole lives in a bubble of unchallenged privilege, that nothing I say will make a difference. She's right. But for those of us who understand that George Zimmerman literally just got away with murder, it's harder to let this one go.

I've been wondering why.

I don't engage my conservative relatives in debates about abortion. I know better. I don't engage them in debates about universal healthcare or gay rights or gun control. I know I won't change their minds. They know they won't change mine (although they love to get a rise out of me).

It's harder to let this one go.

Maybe it's because I think, this time, they're lying.

I think they genuinely believe that abortion is equivalent to murdering babies. I think they genuinely believe that universal healthcare would be bad for the country, for reasons that are unfounded, but I think they believe it. I think they genuinely believe homosexuals are an abomination, because their religion tells them so. And I think they genuinely believe the second amendment protects their right to own any kind of gun they desire.

I don't think they believe the killing of Trayvon Martin had nothing to do with race.

I think, this time, they're lying.

They know, deep down, that George Zimmerman wouldn't have followed a white teenager. They know, deep down, that when George Zimmerman told the dispatcher that, "these assholes, they always get away," he wasn't referring to white teenagers. They know, deep down, that a black man who'd murdered a white teenager in similar circumstances would be spending his life in prison right now.

But for them to admit these facts out loud would mean admitting their own fear of black teenage boys, their own racism. It would mean saying out loud what they truly believe—that Trayvon Martin deserved what he got.

Instead, they say, "I would've done the same thing," pretending to believe that Zimmerman was protecting himself from Martin, not the other way around. The jury pretended to believe it, too. And none of them will acknowledge what this trial always should've been about—Trayvon Martin's rights.

It should've been about Martin's right to carry a bag of Skittles and a bottle of Iced Tea without fear of consequences.

It should've been about Martin's right to walk around at night, wearing a hoodie, while talking to his friend on the phone.

It should've been about Martin's right to not be stalked by a man concealing a gun who ignored explicit orders to leave Martin alone.

It should've been about Martin's right to think a man following him in a car, and later on foot, looked suspicious.

It should've been about Martin's right to defend himself, to stand his ground, when a man who'd been following him in a car decided to confront him.

It should've been about Martin's right NOT to be a victim.

This trial should've been about George Zimmerman's violation of Trayvon Martin's rights.

Zimmerman called the police. He reported a black teenager in his late teens who was "just staring at [him]" and had "something in his hands." The dispatcher informed Zimmerman that an officer was on the way. Zimmerman gave directions to where he was. And then he said, "Shit. He's running."

It should've ended there.

But Zimmerman followed Martin. He killed him. He killed him because "these asshole, they always get away." Martin was a black teenager with the audacity to walk through a gated community. Didn't he know his place?

My relatives and all the other racists out there—including the members of the jury—can pretend all they want that Trayvon Martin's murder had nothing to do with race.

They're lying.

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Shut Up!

This Is Not a Post About Trayvon Martin

[Content Note: White supremacy, violence and murder against Black people, white privilege, judicial injustice.]

This is not a post about Trayvon Martin.

It’s a post about Emmett Till, a Black teenager who went to the store for some candy and unknowingly transgressed a white rule about Black men’s behavior. For that, vigilantes murdered him. When his grieving mother demanded justice, whites rallied around the murderers they had previously denounced. No one was ever convicted of his murder or as an accessory. Despite the fact that the killers of a Black boy walked free, newspapers focused on the anger of the Black community and their dangerous potential for retaliatory violence.

But of course that was all back in the Bad Old Days, and it was terrible, and we can rest easy that things aren’t like that anymore. So this definitely has nothing to do with Trayvon Martin.

It has to do with Herbert Lee, a Black Southern Civil Rights worker, murdered by a white state legislator who claimed self-defense. The jury believed him, and when a Black witness, Louis Allen, attempted to tell the truth, he was murdered too. It’s a telling story of just how much the law and judicial system was tilted in favor of white aggression masked as “self defense,” and how little justice Black folk could expect from that system.

But that was then, not now, and we all know how very wrong those people were. White people are ever so much more enlightened now. So we should learn this story, but we certainly shouldn’t think it has anything to do with Trayvon Martin. Because this post is not about him.

It is about Thomas Shipp and Abram Smith, two teenage boys lynched in Marion Indiana, in 1930. As Shipp and Smith’s bodies, gruesomely mutilated, hung on display for the large white crowd, a white photographer snapped a picture. Ironically, that picture has become an iconic representation of a “Southern” lynching. But lynching was not just a Southern problem, as the Marion case graphically illustrates. Calling it one erases the role of whites across the country in maintaining white supremacy.

Of course, Black teenagers only had to fear for their lives back in the Bad Old Days, not now. (And even if they do, which they don’t, it would probably only be a problem in some other part of the country, because the North is more racist than the South, or is it the other way around?) But this definitely has nothing to do with the way white people talk about the treatment of Trayvon Martin, because no white person has said his death was just a Southern thing or “what do you expect from Florida?”

Because white people have come a long way! Back in the days of abolition, white people were often indifferent to slavery, when they weren't downright positive about it. Even people who weren’t slaveholders defended slavery. It benefited them in other ways, notably by reinforcing the race hierarchy that granted even the poorest whites status. Only when Northern whites felt themselves threatened (by the provisions of the 1850 Fugitive Slave Act) did abolition become a fairly popular cause in free states. So large swaths of white people could only get worked up about Black oppression when it started affecting white people too. Because the Bad Old Days were bad like that.

Fortunately, it’s not like that any more; we certainly don’t hear white people saying things like “it’s about class, not race!” as a strategy of re-centering oppression around themselves. So none of this has any bearing on Trayvon Martin’s case.

After all, white people have totally changed. It’s not like it was when Martin Luther King Jr. penned his Letter From a Birmingham Jail. Too often we don’t learn about how King was viewed as a dangerous, un-American radical. And not only by Southern white racists, but by ostensible white moderates. If Black people broke unjust laws, even in peaceful protest, well, that was a terrible thing and could riots be far behind? King chided these moderates for insisting that Black people remain patient, for insisting that law and order must be carried out rather than justice be done.

Fortunately, today everyone—even Glenn Beck!—loves Dr. King. So we definitely won’t find “reasonable” white moderates defending bad legal decisions by saying “well, the law had to be carried out, even if it was bad” or explaining that Black people just have to be patient with this stuff or mislabeling peaceful protests as “race riots.” You’d have to be silly to think that had anything to do with the outcome of Trayvon Martin’s case.

And white progressives have definitely come a long way too! Can you imagine that where was a time when white reformers simply gave up on the cause of justice for Black people? Most of the Republican party was happy to abandon Reconstruction in the 1870s, leaving Southern black people in the care of ex-Confederate state governments. White violence, whether legal or extralegal, returned as an accepted tool to keep Black people “in line.” Terrorism against Black people was the rule of the day, abetted by apathy among white progressives.

Thankfully, white progressives would never become apathetic about racism today. Never! So this definitely has nothing to do with Trayvon Martin.

Nor does it have anything to do with Marissa Alexander. Or Jordan Davis. Or CeCe McDonald. Or the 120 Black people killed by police, security guards, or self-appointed law enforcers since January 2012. Or any of the Black children for whom gun violence is a leading cause of death.

Because it’s simply impossible that white USians could be repeating the sins of the past.

I have been teaching history for 10 years; when they enter my classroom, the students all know that the Bad Old Days were bad! But (say the white students) everything is fine now!

They have learned to say how bad things were. But they have also learned never to draw a connection to today. They can read it, they can mark it, they can even learn it, but they refuse to inwardly digest it.

(My Black students don’t seem to have that problem. Curious.)

And it is not just my students. White people across the United States have learned the fine art of castigating the past while ignoring the present. They know what the patterns of racism look like; they just refuse to see them. So the gutting of the VRA is fine, gun owners are the really oppressed people, Black people are just too angry and unreasonable about the death of their children, and white control of the media, government, and finance is all JUST and GOOD and the way it should be!

And so. This can’ t possibly be a post about Trayvon Martin.

Although I certainly hope you think it is.

Open Wide...

Shut Up!