Salon.com > Racism http://www.salon.com Fri, 03 May 2013 03:47:40 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 Assata Shakur first woman named on FBI most wanted list http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/assata_shakur_first_woman_named_on_fbi_most_wanted_list/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/assata_shakur_first_woman_named_on_fbi_most_wanted_list/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 22:01:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13288140 Forty years ago to the day, Assata Shakur (birth name JoAnne Deborah Chesimard) was involved in a shootout at the New Jersey Turnpike, which left a state trooper dead. Shakur, then a Black Liberation Army and Black Panther Party member, was convicted of his murder in 1973. In 1979, with the help of allies in the black radical movement, Shakur escaped from prison, eventually emerging in Cuba, where she has lived since 1984. As of Thursday --  the reward on her capture and return doubled to $2 million -- the 66-year-old fugitive was named the first woman on the FBI's most wanted list.

Shakur was herself wounded by police shots during the Jersey Turnpike shootout and one of her militant comrades was killed. Despite the case's verdict, many of Shakur's supporters -- and commentators rightly skeptical of the criminal justice's system treatment of black liberation activists at the time -- question Shakur's murder conviction. Deserving of further questioning: Why, after 40 years, is Shakur (whose chosen name means "she who struggles") worthy of a $2 million bounty and a spot among the FBI's most wanted?

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/assata_shakur_first_woman_named_on_fbi_most_wanted_list/feed/ 19 Georgia town allegedly diverting sewage to black neighborhood http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/town_to_hold_first_integrated_prom_now_allegedly_discriminating_via_sewage_treatment/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/town_to_hold_first_integrated_prom_now_allegedly_discriminating_via_sewage_treatment/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 21:51:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13288132 Rochelle, Ga. made national headlines recently when Wilcox County high school held its first-ever integrated prom last weekend.

Now, nonprofit environmental law organization Earthjustice is targeting the town for another instance of racial discrimination: its sewage treatment.

According to Earthjustice.org, "White residents of Rochelle live on the south side of the city’s railroad track. African-Americans live on the other side." The city maintains pipes in the predominantly white neighborhood, but not the African-American side. "As a result," writes Earthjustice, "untreated sewage backs up and overflows into the streets and the yards of residents on the north side of the tracks."

“Sewage overflows my pipes and flows under my house. It’s time somebody did something about it. They [the white community] live comfortably and I want to live comfortably, too,” said Rochelle resident Rufus Howard.

Howard is one of nine Rochelle residents represented by Earthjustice, who will file a lawsuit under the Clean Water Act if the city does not resolve the issue in 60 days.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/town_to_hold_first_integrated_prom_now_allegedly_discriminating_via_sewage_treatment/feed/ 6 NYPD’s Ray Kelly: Blacks “understopped” by police http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/ny_police_commissioner_blacks_understopped_by_police/ http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/ny_police_commissioner_blacks_understopped_by_police/#comments Thu, 02 May 2013 15:07:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13287607 Echoing what Joan Walsh called Mayor Bloomberg's "ugly" defense of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practice, police commissioner Ray Kelly asserted Wednesday night that African Americans are "understopped" by police. During an interview with ABC, the commissioner and the policing tactic's greatest defender, said that "African Americans are being understopped in relation to people being described as perpetrators of violent crime."

While Mayor Bloomberg has been mayor, the NYPD has carried out over 5 million stop-and-frisks. Analysis by the ACLU of official police data found that over 86 percent of the stops were of black or Latino individuals. The analysis of police data also revealed that 88 percent of the stops did not result in an arrest or summons (and of course an even smaller proportion ever lead to a prosecution, or conviction). The number of innocent people stopped alone serves as ample riposte to Kelly's suggestion that any demographic is "understopped."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/05/02/ny_police_commissioner_blacks_understopped_by_police/feed/ 10 Texas church pushes racist doctrine http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/texas_church_pushes_racist_doctrine_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/texas_church_pushes_racist_doctrine_partner/#comments Fri, 26 Apr 2013 16:51:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13282988 The Southern Poverty Law Center “The curse of Ham,” an old-time Biblical (mis)interpretation used to vilify black people and justify slavery and laws against racial intermarriage, is still alive and spreading bigotry in the United States.

The Appleby Baptist Church in Nacogdoches, Texas, is among this country’s scattered, independent fundamentalist churches still openly promoting the idea that the Biblical Noah pronounced a curse on descendants of his son, Ham. Ham had sexually molested Noah as he slept in a drunken stupor, and Noah realized it, the story goes. The curse ultimately fell on Canaan, Noah’s grandson, whose descendants were black and fated to be an underclass of slaves, according to this version of the Bible, which has been widely discredited by mainstream religious scholars.

But the canard is trumpeted loud and clear in an online statement of conviction by Appleby leaders. The East Texas church, 90 miles from Shreveport, La., is “a bit of a throwback, but these people are still out there,” Rachel Tabachnick, a fellow at the think tank Political Research Associates, told Hatewatch. She researches the impact of the religious right on politics and society.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/26/texas_church_pushes_racist_doctrine_partner/feed/ 42 Let’s hope the Boston Marathon bomber is a white American http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/lets_hope_the_boston_marathon_bomber_is_a_white_american/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/lets_hope_the_boston_marathon_bomber_is_a_white_american/#comments Tue, 16 Apr 2013 23:24:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13273212 As we now move into the official Political Aftermath period of the Boston bombing -- the period that will determine the long-term legislative fallout of the atrocity -- the dynamics of privilege will undoubtedly influence the nation's collective reaction to the attacks. That's because privilege tends to determine: 1) which groups are -- and are not -- collectively denigrated or targeted for the unlawful actions of individuals; and 2) how big and politically game-changing the overall reaction ends up being.

This has been most obvious in the context of recent mass shootings. In those awful episodes, a religious or ethnic minority group lacking such privilege would likely be collectively slandered and/or targeted with surveillance or profiling (or worse) if some of its individuals comprised most of the mass shooters. However, white male privilege means white men are not collectively denigrated/targeted for those shootings -- even though most come at the hands of white dudes.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/16/lets_hope_the_boston_marathon_bomber_is_a_white_american/feed/ 1725 Are California state prisons racist? http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/is_the_california_penitentiary_system_racist_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/is_the_california_penitentiary_system_racist_partner/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 16:45:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13269154 ProPublicaIn several men’s prisons across California, colored signs hang above cell doors: blue for black inmates, white for white, red, green or pink for Hispanic, yellow for everyone else.

Though it’s not an official policy, at least five California state prisons have a color-coding system.

On any given day, the color of a sign could mean the difference between an inmate exercising in the prison yard or being confined to their cell. When prisoners attack guards or other inmates, California allows its corrections officers to restrict all prisoners of that same race or ethnicity to prevent further violence.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/is_the_california_penitentiary_system_racist_partner/feed/ 2 Must-see morning clip: Jon Stewart eviscerates Rand Paul’s speech http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_eviscerates_rand_pauls_speech/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_eviscerates_rand_pauls_speech/#comments Fri, 12 Apr 2013 13:12:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13268948 This is an actual thing Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky said to students at historically black Howard University recently:
""Some people have asked me, 'Are you nervous about speaking at Howard?'" and "Some have said that I'm either brave or crazy to be here today."

He then continued on an increasingly out-of-touch and ignorant conversation on race relations between the GOP and blacks. Jon Stewart shares the highlights and sets the record straight:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/12/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_eviscerates_rand_pauls_speech/feed/ 37 The Masters presents a phony, sanitized South http://www.salon.com/2013/04/11/the_masters_presents_a_phony_sanitized_south/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/11/the_masters_presents_a_phony_sanitized_south/#comments Thu, 11 Apr 2013 17:06:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13268013 The last two Democrats in the White House have been avid golfers. A once lily-white sport has never felt more international. But it is still easy to dismiss golf as elitist and reactionary. And the problem comes into particular sharp focus early every April, during the Masters, a tournament at a small private country club in the largely working-class mill town of Augusta, Ga. The tournament gets underway today.

Those of us who love the game know that it is not as elitist, classist, racist or sexist as many seem to think -- but this particular tournament played at this particular club most certainly is.

“A tradition unlike any other” goes the tiresome CBS tag line for the club’s annual invitational. But it is a tradition of privilege and exclusion.

The vaunted prestige of the Masters began with Robert Tyre Jones Jr., one of the club’s founders. After Babe Ruth, Bobby Jones was the brightest light in the Golden Age of American Sports. Handsome, humble and invariably good-humored, he has always stood as a kind of secular saint in the popular imagination. When the British golf writer Bernard Darwin (grandson of the naturalist) said that “humanly speaking” Jones’ poetic golf swing left “no room for improvement,” he was speaking both literally and figuratively. The grace of the swing revealed the graciousness of the man.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/11/the_masters_presents_a_phony_sanitized_south/feed/ 110 Why did LL Cool J participate in that “Accidental Racist” song? http://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/why_did_ll_cool_j_participate_in_that_accidental_racist_song/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/why_did_ll_cool_j_participate_in_that_accidental_racist_song/#comments Mon, 08 Apr 2013 21:49:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13265196 The Internet is flabbergasted by the jarring, awful Brad Paisley and LL Cool J collaboration, "Accidental Racist." After getting past the fact that such a song even exists in 2013, the Internet's collective psyche is beginning to grapple with the many, many questions prompted by the video (Who thought this song was a good idea? How is accidental racism different from non-accidental racism (it isn't)? Why does LL Cool J address Paisley as "Mr. White Man" and not by his name? And ... just, like, what?), another question that everyone is asking is: Why is LL Cool J even a part of this song?

Here are some theories:

LL Cool J is just trying to thank Abraham Lincoln:
[embedtweet id="321306264661524481"]

Maybe Cool J and Brad Paisley are lovers?:
[embedtweet id="321371054096400384"]

Cool James is gearing up for a comeback:
[embedtweet id="321368961692336129"]

That's not LL! That's Weird Al:
[embedtweet id="321368470342209537"]

Or maybe it is just tragic and now we can all look forward to this:
[embedtweet id="321367995807055873"]

and maybe this:

[embedtweet id="321372600053936128"]

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/08/why_did_ll_cool_j_participate_in_that_accidental_racist_song/feed/ 18 Georgia high school students fight to end segregated prom http://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/georgia_high_school_students_fight_for_first_ever_integrated_prom/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/georgia_high_school_students_fight_for_first_ever_integrated_prom/#comments Thu, 04 Apr 2013 18:11:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13261764 Four girls in Rochelle, Ga. are fighting to do in their hometown what the Civil Rights Act was meant to do for all of America in 1964: end segregation.

WSAV in Georgia reports that Wilcox County High School holds two proms for its students: a whites-only prom, and an integrated prom. WSAV notes that the school has never had a fully inclusive prom in its history.

Best friends Stephanie Sinnot, Mareshia Rucker, Quanesha Wallace and Keela Bloodworth are trying to change that. "We are all friends," said Sinnot. "That's just kind of not right that we can't go to prom together."

If any non-white person tried to attend the whites-only prom, "They would probably have the police come out there and escort them off the premises," said Bloodworth. According to WSAV, this was the case in 2012 when a biracial student who tried to attend the dance was "turned away by police."

The students are pushing to do end segregation at the dance, but are facing backlash. WSAV reports:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/04/georgia_high_school_students_fight_for_first_ever_integrated_prom/feed/ 79 Tim Graham: “Average viewer would not be able to guess Karen Finney is African-American” http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/tim_graham_average_viewer_would_not_be_able_to_guess_karen_finney_is_african_american/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/tim_graham_average_viewer_would_not_be_able_to_guess_karen_finney_is_african_american/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2013 21:21:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13259327 In a series of Twitter responses to the announcement that Karen Finney would be hosting a new show on MSNBC, Tim Graham, director of media analysis at the conservative Media Research Center, said that Finney's skin is not dark enough for the "average viewer" to guess that she is African-American.

Finney served as the first African-American spokeswoman for the Democratic National Committee and has been an MSNBC political analyst and guest host since 2009.

Tim Graham has been a Media Research Center "watchdog" since 1989. He has been a racially clueless idiot probably since forever.

Here are his tweets:

[embedtweet id="319180589049724929"]

[embedtweet id="319190014498062337"]

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/tim_graham_average_viewer_would_not_be_able_to_guess_karen_finney_is_african_american/feed/ 12 NYPD’s Ray Kelly wanted to “instill fear” in minority youth http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/nypds_ray_kelly_wanted_to_instill_fear_in_minority_youth/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/nypds_ray_kelly_wanted_to_instill_fear_in_minority_youth/#comments Tue, 02 Apr 2013 11:47:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13258628 In the latest striking revelation about the internal mechanisms of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practices, a New York state senator testified that police commissioner Ray Kelly once said he intended to "instill fear" in black and Latino young men with the controversial tactic.

State Sen. Eric Adams, a retired NYPD captain, took the stand Monday in the landmark Floyd vs. City of New York federal trial, which challenges the constitutionality of the racially skewed stop-and-frisk tactic. Adams told the court about a 2010 meeting between Kelly and New York's then-Gov. David Patterson. Adams, also present at the meeting, testified that the commissioner had expressly stated that black and Latino men should be targeted in police stops. Kelly, according to the city's attorney, has flatly denied making such claims.

Ryan Devereaux reported for the Guardian:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/02/nypds_ray_kelly_wanted_to_instill_fear_in_minority_youth/feed/ 9 “KKK out of Memphis” http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/kkk_out_of_memphis_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/kkk_out_of_memphis_partner/#comments Mon, 01 Apr 2013 16:48:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13257886 The Southern Poverty Law Center MEMPHIS, Tenn. — “Here they come,” someone shouted, standing in the rain in the fenced-in and heavily guarded protest area set up here more than 100 yards from where the Ku Klux Klan was beginning its controversial rally Saturday on the steps of the Shelby County Courthouse.

“I can’t see them,” someone else said, climbing on his tiptoes. “They’re too many cops in the way.”

The police presence was indeed overwhelming and the rain steady as the Klan arrived at the courthouse steps at 2:15, about 45 minutes late on the day before Easter. But from the city-designated protest area it was impossible to hear them and nearly impossible to see them except for the tops of their pointy white hoods.

As soon as they arrived, the multiracial crowd of about 400 anti-Klan demonstrators and onlookers — who were kept in the Best Park parking lot, behind a 6-foot high fence and a phalanx of police officers on foot and horseback — began chanting, “KKK out of Memphis.”

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/04/01/kkk_out_of_memphis_partner/feed/ 5 Study: Facebook is being used to spread racism http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/a_new_study_facebook_is_being_used_to_spread_recism_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/a_new_study_facebook_is_being_used_to_spread_recism_partner/#comments Sun, 31 Mar 2013 12:00:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13255744 Is Facebook a particularly powerful medium to spread racist messages? That’s the disturbing implication of a newly published study.

Pacific Standard
“Frequent users are particularly disposed to be influenced by negative racial messages,” psychologists Shannon Rauch and Kimberley Schanz write in the journal Computers in Human Behavior.

They argue these heavy users log onto the site in search of social inclusion rather than information — and as such, they’re prone to express agreement with the material they see without thinking about it too deeply. This combination of “a need to connect and an ethos of shallow processing” creates an atmosphere conducive to the spread of racist thoughts.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/31/a_new_study_facebook_is_being_used_to_spread_recism_partner/feed/ 16 Don Young issues second, slightly better apology for “wetbacks” comment http://www.salon.com/2013/03/29/don_young_issues_second_slightly_better_apology_for_wetbacks_comment/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/29/don_young_issues_second_slightly_better_apology_for_wetbacks_comment/#comments Fri, 29 Mar 2013 22:09:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13256118 House Republican Don Young apologized for a second time on Friday for using a racial slur to describe migrant farm workers. Earlier this week, Young told an Alaskan radio host that when he was a child, his father "used 50-60 wetbacks to pick tomatoes" on their California farm.

When news of Young's comment broke, Republican leaders (newly committed to having Latino voters and immigrants like them) issued strongly worded statements disavowing the remark. House Speaker John Boehner called Young's use of the word "offensive and beneath the dignity of the office he holds." Other House GOP leaders joined Boehner in his criticism, saying there was "no excuse" for Young's language and that it warranted "an immediate apology."

On Thursday, the 21-term congressman issued a statement explaining that he "used a term that was commonly used during my days growing up on a farm in central California." Young said that he that he "meant no disrespect," but did not apologize for the slur.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/29/don_young_issues_second_slightly_better_apology_for_wetbacks_comment/feed/ 36 Momentum surges for police reform http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/momentum_surges_for_police_reform/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/momentum_surges_for_police_reform/#comments Wed, 20 Mar 2013 16:36:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13246772 The NYPD is currently on trial in more ways than one. While a federal judge presides over a landmark case challenging the constitutionality of the police department's stop-and-frisk tactic, political will is growing to ban the racially divisive policing practices and to increase oversight on NYPD behavior. From the streets of East Flatbush to the forums of mayoral debates, momentum is growing to challenge the NYPD as it currently operates.

While Mayor Bloomberg's administration has long maintained that independent oversight of the NYPD is not necessary, his ally, City Council Speaker (and mayoral candidate) Christine Quinn announced Tuesday that lawmakers had reached a deal to install an inspector general to monitor the vast police department. The call for an inspector general, who could have investigative powers and the ability to issue subpoenas, followed mounting evidence of widespread discriminatory policing, both in the form of stop-and-frisks (over 86 percent of which target black and Latino New Yorkers) and the NYPD's spying on Muslim communities. For a careful politician like Quinn to support such a proposal reflects a shifting political tide towards reform.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/20/momentum_surges_for_police_reform/feed/ 2 With stop-and-frisk on trial, City goes after plaintiff http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/city_questions_politics_of_stop_and_frisk_plaintiff/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/city_questions_politics_of_stop_and_frisk_plaintiff/#comments Tue, 19 Mar 2013 14:56:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13245758 On the first day of the landmark federal trial challenging the constitutionality of the NYPD's stop-and-frisk practices, the city's attorneys seemed to set up a catch-22 for proving improper police action. Witnesses who took the stand to speak about feeling persecuted when stopped and searched by New York cops had their credibility challenged for having a stance against stop-and-frisk.

Matt Sledge at HuffPo reported that David Floyd, the lead plaintiff in the case, and Harlem teenager Devin Alomonor both took the stand Monday. Both men have been stopped and frisked by the NYPD. Floyd, a medical student in the Bronx, was stopped twice by police -- once just walking along the sidewalk, once helping a neighbor into their apartment. Sledge noted that the city's lawyer, Morgan Kunz, offered a "preview of the city's courtroom strategy" in her cross-examinations of the two men:

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/city_questions_politics_of_stop_and_frisk_plaintiff/feed/ 3 No, Jesus wasn’t a white dude http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/no_jesus_wasnt_a_white_dude_partner/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/no_jesus_wasnt_a_white_dude_partner/#comments Tue, 19 Mar 2013 06:54:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13245406 The History Channel miniseries "The Bible" is one of the most popular TV shows in recent memory. "The greatest story ever told" seems to have much life left in i

AlterNetDuring an age of economic uncertainty (and even more so among Christian Dominionist evangelicals who believe Barack Obama is the anti-Christ) it makes sense that a retreat to a popularized version of the underpinnings of Christian faith, tailor-made for cable TV, has proven to be popular.

"The Bible" will likely draw more viewers following the controversy generated by a recent episode that offered up a vision of “Satan” whose facial features are almost identical to those of President Barack Obama.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/19/no_jesus_wasnt_a_white_dude_partner/feed/ 252 FDNY commissioner’s son quits over racist tweets http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/fdny_commissioners_son_quits_after_racist_tweets/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/fdny_commissioners_son_quits_after_racist_tweets/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 20:15:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13244892 Twenty-three-year-old Joe Cassano was set to follow in the footsteps of his father, New York Fire Department commissioner Salvatore Cassano. That was until the young Cassano sent out a number of racist slurs on Twitter. As the New York Times reported, the FDNY EMT resigned on Monday when the offensive content of his Twitter feed (now deactivated) came to light.

Here's a few of his choice tweets, as reported by the Times and New York magazine:

"I like jews about as much as hitler #toofar? NOPE."

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/fdny_commissioners_son_quits_after_racist_tweets/feed/ 6 RNC chairman asked about CPAC’s failed racism panel http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/rnc_chair_asked_about_cpacs_failed_racism_panel/ http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/rnc_chair_asked_about_cpacs_failed_racism_panel/#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 17:01:00 +0000 http://www.railrode.net/?p=13244508 In announcing the Republican National Committee's plans for minority outreach, Chairman Reince Priebus was asked about CPAC's panel on race that went terribly awry, and how Republicans plan to address members of the base who still hold those kinds of views of minorities.

"Question about CPAC last week, where a panel on African-American voters dissolved into a shouting match with at least one activist saying that -- talking about voters being systematically disenfranchised. How, given that sort of backdrop in the party, do you plan to overcome those challenges in your role at the RNC?" said National Press Club president Angela Greiling Keane, reading from a written question, during a press conference with Priebus at the National Press Club.

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]]> http://www.salon.com/2013/03/18/rnc_chair_asked_about_cpacs_failed_racism_panel/feed/ 8