Tag Archives: human rights

white christmas?

Nothing really gets the blood pumping like hate, does it? Makes you feel all warm and cozy. Righteous indigination, a sense of belonging. What could be better? I had a long manifesto on hate, a tangent from yesterday’s mention of the alleged War on Christmas, but I’ve junked it in favor of a link to an interesting read on Alternet today, A Whiter Shade of Christmas:

The holiday song “White Christmas” is a favorite among the white supremacist set, for obvious reasons. May your days be merry and bright / And may all your Christmases be white. Put into the context of white nationalism, the tune becomes a jolly anthem for white pride and privilege. And don’t think that racist activists can’t be jolly or share a little holiday cheer.

In fact, there is an international organization of white supremacist women who devote their energies to holiday activities such as sending Christmas cards to their incarcerated “brothers,” and raising money for needy Aryans. This year Women for Aryan Unity (WAU) is holding its 15th annual Yulefund, which has purportedly raised $2,000 over the last three years to buy gifts for children of incarcerated white supremacists. Women for Aryan Unity also publishes a cookbook, sends welcome packages to new mothers, and runs an Aryan Clothing Drive.

[read the rest of the article]

In her conclusion, the author makes the following suggestions:

In the meantime, you can dedicate your holiday activities to tolerance by giving a year-end gift to one of the many anti-hate organizations and donating to a clothes drive that helps people of all colors. And, for God’s sake, please don’t sing “White Christmas.”

I do hope that her request that one not sing “White Christmas” is some sort of failed sarcasm, because if it’s not it takes her into that silliness zone so cozily occupied by our favorite sitcom host, Bill O’Reilly.

Mia Zapata's Killer sentenced

Mia Zapata’s killer gets 36 year sentence:

The sentence was 10 years longer than the standard maximum for felony murder.

After playing a film paying homage to Zapata, King County Deputy Prosecutor Tim Bradshaw argued that Mezquia deserved a longer sentence than the standard.

He said Zapata’s death was painful, cruel and violent.

“The state thinks that Mia was an exceptional person and the crime was exceptional,” Bradshaw said.

Then, in an unusual move, he called for a show of hands from those in the packed courtroom who supported the longer sentence.

Most of the spectators raised their hands.

In meting out the punishment, Armstrong said she found a legal basis for the longer sentence in the physical evidence presented at trial. Zapata suffered numerous rips, tears and internal injuries that went beyond those found in a typical rape and murder, Armstrong said.

[read the whole article]

It seems appropriate to close this post with a link to Home Alive. The Seattle-based organization, formed in response to Mia’s death, teachs self-defense and does anti-violence public education programs. There’s a second compilation album to benefit Home Alive available at cdbaby.

friendly fire?

Ellen Goodman’s “Unfriendly Fires in the Gender Wars” is quite thought provoking:

Maybe he was right to compare sexual assaults in the military to “friendly fire.” Last week, an advocate for victims, Scott Berkowitz, told a panel of investigating congresswomen that “while these friendly fire attacks leave no trail of blood, they leave many damaged souls in their wake.” No doubt about it.

But “friendly fire” is the chosen term for a tragic mistake. It’s what we say when one soldier is hurt by another accidentally.

Sexual assault is, however, no accident. Certainly not the kind of assault reported by 129 female soldiers in Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan and Bahrain. Not the kind experienced by about 3 percent of all military women in 2002. These are intentional attacks. Women trained to fight for their country found themselves in a retro battle of the sexes.

Such stories told by female soldiers are reminders of the hot spots where women can get caught between time zones and images. On the one hand, military women are on the cutting edge of equality, recruited to be anything they want to be. On the other hand, they became something they didn’t want to be: victims.

Of course, this is not just a military story. It echoes on other playing fields of change. Just a few weeks before the panel met in Washington, I was in Boulder, Colo. On the front page of the newspaper that morning was a dramatic photograph of the University of Colorado’s women’s basketball team. On the same page, there was yet another chapter in the endless sex scandal swirling around the university and its football team.

[read the rest of the column]

This editorial appeared in the Washington Post on Saturday (where this link is from) and Goodman’s work is syndicated across the country.

Scott Berkowitz is the President and Founder of RAINN (the rape and abuse national network) in Washington, DC.

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month and the DC Rape Crisis Center has a plethora of events scheduled throughout the month, including the annual Take Back the Night rally, which is scheduled for April 24th this year.

If you aren’t in DC and are looking for info on a local Take Back the Night rally, you can try searching the Feminist Majority Events Calendar, or search the web for local universities or other organizations sponsoring events in your area.

Your local IndyMedia site might also have information specific to your area. (Go to the main site and look for the IMC closest to you).