Tag: Racing

ESPN anchor and UCLA alumna Cari Champion, left, and the panelists agreed that sports and politics have never been separate. The one-hour discussion about athletes and activism was part of a series of events recognizing the 100th birthday of Jackie Robinson, the UCLA alumnus who broke the Major League Baseball color barrier in 1947. The panelists were Pat Turner, vice provost of UCLA undergraduate education and professor of African American studies; Chris Kluwe, a former punter for UCLA and the Minnesota Vikings and now a writer and LGBT equality activist; Damion Thomas, museum curator of sports for the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture who earned a doctorate in history from UCLA; and Kaiya McCullough, a current UCLA women’s soccer player. “And it’s hard to not feel sadness for people who are going through things that you couldn’t possibly imagine. “I am very privileged just because of the fact I am white,” Kluwe said. He noted that when James Naismith invented basketball in 1919, it was to help the YMCA — founded as the Young Men’s Christian Association — instill moral and character education at a time when church attendance was declining. Basketball [became] a vehicle to teach young men and boys, at that point, Christian values.” Champion pointedly asked the panel what might have happened if Kaepernick had said he was kneeling to support breast cancer research, rather than to bring attention to racial injustice. “I can think of other things you can do that are genuinely disrespectful,” she said. “But quietly getting on a knee, not vocalizing anything — that’s interpreted as disrespectful?” Toward the end of the discussion, Thomas reminded the audience of Jackie Robinson’s legacy — and the toll that his activism took on him. “Jackie Robinson always said, ‘Well, we still haven’t done enough,’” Thomas said.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, presidential candidates and, perhaps most important, both of Virginia's senators and its longest-serving black representative all said Northam should step aside. The entire episode shines a light not just on Northam's troubles but also on the politics of race in the Trump era. A higher standard Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a Democrat from Texas, said on CNN Monday he doesn't think the Democratic Party can stand up to the "bigotry" of President Trump with Northam still in office. "I don't think we can do that," he said, "unless we hold all of our officials to a high standard." Trump, after all, from the day he launched his presidential run in 2015, said Mexico was sending rapists and drug dealers to the United States; exploited white grievance to win the presidency; and as president expounded a kind of moral equivalency between white nationalists and those protesting them after the deadly, racially tinged violence in Charlottesville, Va. Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, who is seriously considering a presidential bid, pulled no punches Sunday in an appearance on NBC's Meet the Press. But Democrats believe Northam needs to go, so they can continue to speak with some moral authority during Trump's presidency. Democrats: "It's a totally different party"; what that could mean for 2020 Democrats have a complicated history on the issue of race. The late Robert Byrd of West Virginia, a former Democratic Senate leader, had once been an official in the KKK. Northam is a reminder for many in the party of where it was, not where it's going. But in the Trump era, times have changed and the scrutiny on issues of race and gender has intensified.

Karen Wang’s foray into ethnic and race based politicking wasn’t the first time that’s happened in Canada and won’t be the last. Wang is the now former Liberal candidate who resigned this week after it was reported she had posted on WeChat, a Chinese language social media site, effectively saying, vote for me I’m Chinese and NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh isn’t. “If we can increase the voting rate, as the only Chinese candidate in this riding, if I can garner 16,000 votes I will easily win the by-election, control the election race and make history! All the parties do it to a degree, even Singh in his bid for the NDP leadership. I’m not claiming Singh has made racist comments but a look at his campaign win shows he himself benefited from ethno-politics to become NDP leader. Singh won the NDP leadership with strong support in the Greater Toronto Area, in particular his home riding of Brampton, an area with a large Indian-Canadian population and strong Sikh presence. Recently a Liberal candidate won likely in part because she was Greek. At various times all the parties had been close to these groups doing what former Liberal cabinet minister Ujjal Dosanjh called politicians gathering votes in “ethnic ghettos.” Jagmeet Singh got into trouble shortly after he was elected leader because he refused to denounce those behind the Air India bombing that was planned and carried out Sikh Canadians in 1984. Justin Trudeau had trouble during his visit to India last February because the Indian government felt he was too close to radical Khalistani elements in Canada. Peschisolido had a lot of support among the South Asian community who Chan dismissed as not too bright.

This is what a postnational multicultural state looks like. And while the Liberal Party can try to back away from Wang’s message, her appeal to identity politics is straight out of the Liberal playbook and echoes the politics and policies promoted by Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. In late 2015, Trudeau was interviewed by The New York Times magazine about his vision for Canada. And forget about our constitutional monarchy and parliamentary democracy — arguable the most successful form of government in human history — or our commitment to Western liberal ideals. Instead, Trudeau said “there is no core identity, no mainstream in Canada… those are the qualities that make us the first postnational state.” The race-based message from the Liberal candidate mirrors this type of thinking. For instance, in her WeChat message, Wang does not call herself “Canadian” or even “Chinese-Canadian.” Instead, she identifies as “Chinese” and calls Singh “Indian.” Just like Trudeau said, there’s no mainstream, no core identity in Canada. It’s no surprise, then, to see politicians pandering in different languages to various ethnic communities. Trudeau’s fixation on identity politics led him to appointing cabinet positions based solely on gender. The next logical step is to expand this thinking to other identities, like ethnic background and language groups. Instead, our nationalism is defined by patriotism — a love of country and commitment to our heritage and shared values.

SAN ANTONIO (AP) — Former Obama Cabinet member Julian Castro joined the 2020 presidential race Saturday as the rush of Democrats making early moves to challenge President Donald Trump accelerates, while anticipation grows around bigger names still considering a White House run. “I’m running for president because it’s time for new leadership, because it’s time for new energy and it’s time for a new commitment to make sure that the opportunities that I’ve had are available to every American,” he told cheering supporters. Castro, who could end up being the only Latino in what is shaping up to be a crowded Democratic field, officially kicked off his campaign with a rally in his hometown of San Antonio, where he was mayor for five years. The ex-housing secretary became the second Democrat to formally enter race, after former Maryland Rep. John Delaney. Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, the first Hindu elected to Congress, is planning a bid, too. The Brief Newsletter Sign up to receive the top stories you need to know right now. The impasse over a border wall that Trump made a central promise of his 2016 campaign has led to the longest government shutdown in U.S. history. The Democratic field is starting to take shape even though the first primary elections are more than a year away. After a brief career in law, he was elected mayor of the nation’s seventh-largest city at 34. During Castro’s trip this past week to Nevada, one state Latino business leader told Castro that he should again be a top contender for vice president if his campaign falls short.

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — Reminding both Malays and non-Malays about racial politics would unconsciously motivate them to choose international schools over government ones for their children, an experiment has shown. Research firm Centre for Governance and Political Studies (Cent-GPS) recently conducted an experiment on 100 respondents, where half were “primed” or unconsciously reminded of racial politics, such as by subtly showing them a “keris” or news on a pro-Malay rally, before they answered survey questions. One of the survey questions asked was on respondents’ schooling preferences for their children, if all factors such as quality of education, distance from home and price were the same for all three choices: public schools, SJK (national-type) schools, and international schools. The survey found that Malays reacted negatively to subtle reminders of ethnocentrism and the country’s racial divide, with those choosing public schools dropping from 35.5 per cent to 22.6 per cent when primed, and those choosing SJK (national type schools) for their children falling from 42 per cent to 29.1 per cent. “After they were primed, only 10.1 per cent would send their kids to public schools, not confident in the type of syllabus that is handed out by leaders who echo ethnocentric rhetoric,” Cent-GPS said. After being primed on race politics, Malay respondents who would “encourage” their children to work in GLCs fell drastically from 35.5 per cent to 12.9 per cent, while those who would “allow” remained about the same at over 48 per cent. After reminders of the racial divide, Malay respondents who said they were “hesitant” doubled from 12.9 per cent to 25.8 per cent, while those who “refuse” to have their children work in GLCs shot up by more than four times from 3.1 per cent to 12.9 per cent. The report said the findings on the GLC question showed both Malay and non-Malay respondents responded negatively when reminded of race-based politics and policies in Malaysia. Research method For the study titled “The Priming Experiment: Reactions to the Question of Race”, Cent-GPS explained it had primed half of its 100 respondents by placing certain objects in a waiting room and testing centre to subtly remind them of Malaysia’s racial divide and race-based rhetoric, before they answered the survey questions. In summing up the study’s findings, Cent-GPS said it was “clear that reminders of Malaysia’s ethnocentrism benefits no one”, noting that its respondents were discouraged from having anything to do with Malaysia if reminded of the nation’s racial divide.

The losing candidate in the Musselshell County sheriff’s race has blamed the elections administrator for his loss and secured a court-ordered recount with rules that could reverse it. An attorney for the county is agreeing to the judge’s rules and has said taxpayers should foot the bill for the recount. But an attorney for the winning candidate is crying foul, saying the recount rules are illegal and the county’s attorney is not defending the elections administrator against the “baseless allegations” that set the stage for the recount. Ronnie Burns lost in November to current Undersheriff Shawn Lesnik by 1.67 percent of the vote, or by 41 votes. Judge Katharine Bidegaray, of the Seventh Judicial District in Eastern Montana, granted the recount after Burns made allegations about wrongdoing on the part of Musselshell County Elections Administrator Cheryl Tomassi, which the county has not yet contested. It’s also declined to respond to the allegations against Tomassi. Tomassi has denied that. Write-in candidates are allowed to list variations of their name, such as “Ronald Burns” or “Ron Burns” in advance of the election that voters might use and have the vote still count. Burns also alleged Tomassi told him he could not distribute stickers with his name on them and a blackened oval to supporters so that they could paste them on the write-in line. Tomassi told The Gazette she merely advised him not to, because the stickers “gum up the machines.” When Burns asserted it was legal to use the stickers, Tomassi said she agreed.

And people are talking about what is fueling them. NPR's Sam Sanders sees race as a throughline shaping our politics and current events. SANDERS: You know, even besides the history of this amendment, if you trace the origins of the Trump White House's push to change it right now, the people in Trump's orbit and the hard-liners on issues like immigration and citizenship, they have been talking about this stuff in very racialized ways. And they've basically been making the argument for years now that something must be done about immigration and borders and who gets to be a citizen. And so when I hear journalists say we should ignore it, it just feels like a really privileged thing to say. So how do we talk about race in a way that allows the most people into that conversation? Whenever I talk to real people in the real world, if you listen long enough and hard enough, they will start to talk to you about race. And then we kept talking about race. And they want to talk about it. GARCIA-NAVARRO: Sam Sanders is the host of the NPR podcast and radio show It's Been A Minute.

Gillum’s campaign put out a statement from McNeil, who is the constitutionally elected lawman over Leon County, denouncing “the political fear mongering” put out by GOP candidate Ron DeSantis over Tallahassee's crime rate as “false, dangerous and disrespectful.” DeSantis zeroed in on mailers sent out by Gillum’s former chief of staff and Tallahassee mayoral candidate Dustin Daniels noting the county’s record homicide rate last year and persistent issues with trying to reduce crime. The mailers drew the attention of Donald Trump Jr., who took to Twitter to criticize Gillum. “Two years ago, I said we had a crime problem. “It’s offensive for someone for political reasons to start attacking law enforcement and the job we’re doing.” McNeil pointed to a reduction in the overall crime rate of 15 percent and a drop in all violent crime of 10 percent from 2016 to 2017, resulting in a five-year low. Leon County’s crime rate has topped the state for the past four years, according to annual data compiled by the Florida Department of Law Enforcement. During the same period, however, the overall violent crime index dropped 9 percent — from 724.5 incidents per 100,000 residents to 658.9 per 100,000. Arrests have been made in all seven of the fatal shootings in Tallahassee this year. McNeil, who is not shy about addressing the problem that crime poses to the county, said he was taken aback by the comments given the work put in by more than a half-dozen law enforcement agencies in town. McNeil noted that, as Tallahassee's mayor, Gillum has little to do with on-the-ground law enforcement efforts. They’re just working too hard to have that shot across the bow without it being responded to.” Contact Karl Etters at ketters@tallahassee.com or @KarlEtters on Twitter.

Republican congressional candidate Janice Arnold-Jones hasn’t won an election for public office in 10 years. Her losing streak is sure to continue this fall based on the laws of gravity. It’s impossible for Arnold-Jones to climb in the polls with both feet embedded in her mouth. She killed any chance she had in the congressional race by taking a potshot at the Native American roots of her opponent, Democrat Deb Haaland. “If anything, I’m guilty of sounding petty,” she told me in an interview. Earhardt said Haaland would be the first Native American woman in Congress. Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, who says she is part Cherokee and part Delaware Indian, already is a member of Congress. Arnold-Jones said this led to her skeptical tone about Haaland breaking the barrier. The point I was making is we are more similar than different,” she told me. But she later conceded that her comment about Haaland not living on a reservation had opened her to criticism.