The Wempner family felt like prisoners of racist bullying as they sat in their home in June.
The kindling for what was shaping up to be their small town’s political eruption started two years ago with a documented act of racism directed at their family.
“I’m honestly trying to decide whether I should put bullets in my pistols and have them handy,” said Dan Wempner.
In 2020, the family had pushed for the school district to respond after Amy Wempner discovered racist bullying Snapchat messages about her adopted son Armond, one of five Black students at Kiel high school in Wisconsin. When the school district brought on a consulting firm to conduct training about racism and harassment, white parents accused the firm of advancing critical race theory. That movement flipped the school board from liberal-leaning to conservative and prompted Armond to transfer to another school district.
What pushed the town to the edge in June was a viral, one-sided story shared by parents of three middle school boys and a conservative law firm. The narrative they put forward claimed that the Kiel school district was investigating the boys for using “she” pronouns to address a transgender student who used “they/them”. (The student’s side of the story has yet to be revealed to the public, though a parent later acknowledged one boy threw food at the student).
A series of bomb threats targeting schools, the public library, and all roads in and out of town over nine days paralyzed the local government and ended the school year early. Those behind the threats demanded the school drop the investigation by 3 June or face additional threats. On 2 June, school board members emerged from a closed meeting to pronounce the investigation “closed” in an unsigned letter.
By then, Kiel’s political factions had already clashed over the direction of schools, public libraries and even the local farmer’s market. Neighbors had grown suspicious of neighbors. Residents peeked out of windows; few ventured into the streets of this north-eastern Wisconsin town of 4,000.
The Alabama Constitution, approved in 1901 to entrench white supremacy, still has language regarding segregated schools, poll taxes and bans on interracial marriage.
But a seismic change could be in store. Alabama voters on Nov. 8 will decide whether to ratify a new constitution that strips out the Jim Crow-era language. It would also reorganize the unwieldy governing document, which has been amended 978 times and tops over 400,000 words. The Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama says the size makes it the longest such document in the world.
Voters in 2020 authorized state officials and lawmakers to cut the racist language that lingers from the era of racial segregation. That work, finally completed, now goes back before voters to ratify the Alabama Constitution of 2022.
Proponents say the changes that will demonstrate Alabama is a different place today — and streamline the sprawling constitution to be more user-friendly.
“This is an effort to show, not only the rest of the country, but the world who we are today,” said state Rep. Merika Coleman, one of the lawmakers who led the bipartisan effort.
However, it does not make the policy changes that some reformers have sought — such as giving counties more home rule and removing tax earmarks, which dedicate taxes to a specific program or purpose.
The Alabama Constitution of 1901 is currently 420,000 words. The new Constitution would shrink slightly to 373,274 words, but that is three times more words than the next-longest state constitution – Texas, according to an analysis from the PARCA.
“Power will still be concentrated in the Legislature and local matters, like whether counties can regulate golf carts on public roads, will continue to clutter the state constitution … And it will still be the world’s longest constitution. Even with the organizational fixes, the document is a confusing mess,” Spencer wrote.
The state committee that worked on the recompilation and the lawmakers who approved it only had a narrow charge to delete racist or repeated language and to reorganize, according to Coleman. However, she is hopeful the ratification will be approved.
Gastonia Police in North Carolina will investigate a terrifying daytime road-rage encounter, now viral on TikTok, in which an enraged biker hurled racial slurs and other invectives at a woman in a car.
It appears the man on a motorcycle pulls up to the woman on East Franklin Boulevard, police spokesman Rick Goodale said Saturday, after The Charlotte Observer emailed him a link to the video. The 28-second TikTok, posted by LaLa Milan on Friday, is titled “Not this man verbally abusing my mom in Gastonia NC.” It was viewed more than 2 million times.
It shows video taken from inside a car where the driver was stopped at a red light. The signal appears to be near Cox Road. The biker pulled up in a turn lane, on the passenger side of the car, and began shouting derogatory, abusive words. “You’re a idiot!” the biker shouts. “You’re a f—— idiot.” “You can’t drive,” the biker rants, telling the driver to “roll your window down.”
Twice he shouts the N-word. A woman in the car continues filming the biker while saying aloud, “I got the plate.” LaLa Milan, a popular creator and influencer on TikTok and other social media platforms, could not be reached by the Observer Saturday. It’s unclear which day the video was taken. Police are trying to determine if anyone reported the incident, Goodale said. That could prove difficult without knowing where the call originated and when, he said.
US Supreme Court is set to hear arguments today in two major cases involving Harvard University and the University of North Carolina that could imperil decades-old affirmative action policies that factor race into student admissions to boost Black and Hispanic enrollment on American campuses.
The arguments are set to begin at 10 am (1400 GMT) in appeals by a group founded by anti-affirmative action activist Edward Blum of lower court rulings upholding programmes used at the two prestigious schools to foster student diversity. The court confronts this divisive issue four months after its major rulings curtailing abortion rights and widening gun rights.
The court’s 6-3 conservative majority is expected to be sympathetic toward the challenges to Harvard and UNC.
The suits were filed separately against the two schools in 2014. One accused Harvard of violating Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination based on race, colour or national origin under any programme or activity receiving federal financial assistance. The other accused UNC of violating the 14th amendment.
Blum’s group said UNC discriminates against white and Asian American applicants and Harvard discriminates against Asian American applicants.
The universities have said they use race as only one factor in a host of individualised evaluations for admission without quotas – permissible under Supreme Court precedents – and that curbing the consideration of race would result in a significant drop in the number of students from underrepresented groups.
Many institutions of higher education place a premium on achieving a diverse student population not simply to remedy racial inequity and exclusion in American life but to bring a range of perspectives onto campuses.
Blum’s group told the justices in court papers that the Constitution requires colourblind admissions, quoting a famous line by conservative chief justice John Roberts from a 2007 ruling: “The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race.”
The two schools and President Joe Biden’s administration, backing them, said categorically banning any consideration of an individual’s race would be inconsistent with equal protection.
UNC said there is a difference between a racist policy like segregation that separates people based on race and race-conscious policies that bring students together. The challengers’ arguments to equate the two “trivialise the grievous legal and moral wrongs of segregation,” the US justice department said in a brief.
Comedian Trevor Noah, in a fresh episode of his satirical television program The Daily Show took a swipe at people offended by Rishi Sunak, a non-white person’s appointment as the United Kingdom’s new prime minister. In a clip posted by the show’s Twitter handle, Noah points out, “of course…not everyone is happy with Sunak taking the top post…but it’s not because they don’t like his policies.”
He gives a sneak peek into a radio programme where a caller takes offence at Britain’s latest political development. The caller – identified as Jerry Lowestoft – asks the host whether it’d be fine if he were the prime minister of Pakistan or Saudi Arabia. “These things matter…England with 85% white people wants to see a PM who reflects them,” he says.
In a hilarious swipe, Noah responds, “Yeah, he has a good point. Can you imagine if white English people wanted to rule countries where no one looked like them?it is difficult to imagine what that world would be like.” Pointing out the man’s hypocrisy, the comedian further says, “…racists always defend colonisation, brushing it as mere business until they feel like they’re being colonised.” He also defended Sunak saying, “You’re not being colonised, the new PM is British…he is not going to walk to his podium on the first day and say, ‘I’m selling the whole country to India…it’s revenge time…that was the whole plan…Happy Diwali…’.”
Recently, Noah’s another similar clip from 2019 during the UK’s political crisis surrounding Brexit resurfaced on social media after former premier Truss quit last week. In the video, Noah was seen joking that “things are so bad in the UK that other countries or India should just colonise Britain”, making a reference to the former colonial empire’s infamous strategy of letting itself in other countries’ political affairs before colonising it.
The school board unanimously voted to fire an Illinois teacher caught on video allegedly calling a student a racial slur, but the family of the student involved in that encounter said that action came weeks too late.
“I’m angry. I’m frustrated. And my heart is broken,” said Kankakee School District 111 Board Secretary Tracy Verrett.
Michael Nelson Jr., a 10th grader, was the student involved in the incident last Thursday in a classroom at Kankakee High School.
“It’s really hard to describe. I just can’t, you know… I’m just mentally shocked,” Nelson said.
Nelson said he was called the N-word by his math teacher as he walked out of class following a verbal dispute.
“There is absolutely utter disdain and horror at what occurred in that classroom,” said Kankakee School District 111 Board Member Christopher Bohlen.
The district said hours after the incident, the first-year teacher, identified as John Donovan, was placed on paid leave.
“There is absolutely nothing that any student can do to deserve having that word used against them,” said Kankakee School District 111 Superintendent Genevra Walters.
On Monday night, the school board voted unanimously to fire him.
But Nelson and his family are still demanding answers. They said the Illinois teacher should have been removed from that class earlier because of another encounter with Nelson last month, during which he allegedly threw a book at him.
“I mean, this is battery. He attacked him, and the school did nothing. The school did nothing to protect him,” said Kevin O’Connor, an attorney for the Nelson family.
Donovan did not immediately return requests for comment.
Real Madrid forward Vinicius Jr believes that fans found guilty of racist abuse should be banned for life from attending games.
The 22-year-old Brazilian was a victim of abuse in September when Atletico Madrid fans were filmed directing racist chants at him outside their Wanda Metropolitano Stadium ahead of their game against Real.
“If you hurt other people, you must pay,” Vinicius told Brazilian TV Globo on Sunday.
“It’s hard to say that (racism in soccer) will end with so many people still doing it. But I like to believe that there are more good people than bad.
“All the racist people must pay in some way. If they like to watch soccer, so those Atletico Madrid fans should never be allowed to step foot in a stadium again.
“That will make them suffer the consequences and reflect about their actions.”
Atletico and LaLiga condemned the abuse directed at Vinicius in the build-up to the Madrid derby, which Real won 2-1.
Local media also reported that monkey noises and chants of “Vinicius, die” were heard throughout the game.
Atletico said they are collaborating with authorities to identify the abusers who would be banned by the club.
The Prosecutor’s Office of Madrid is also investigating the case.
Pele, Neymar and other leading Brazilian figures defended Vinicius that same week after a pundit on a Spanish soccer show said the Brazilian was not respecting his opponents with his celebrations, comparing his behaviour to a monkey.
Vinicius published an emotional two-minute video statement in response to what he called a “xenophobic and racist” insult, saying he “won’t stop dancing” and that “the happiness of a black Brazilian being successful in Europe bothers” many people.
Real Madrid released a statement supporting their player and declaring they will take legal action against the pundit.
Nesbit man Aubrey Suzuki was sentenced Thursday to two-and-a-half years in prison after he made threats to start a race war online, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Mississippi.
Court documents said Aubrey Suzuki, 21, was communicating on an encrypted messaging platform with members of a white nationalist organization. Authorities were alerted when Suzuki began making threats to accelerate and wage a race war in the United States.
Suzuki made numerous statements about Nazi and white supremacist ideology and also stated: “Honestly I don’t want to be a normal person. I want to breathe revolution. I want to be in the middle of the boondocks with my mates killing n******* sp*** fa***** and blowing up the system.”
When investigating the online threats made by Suzuki, agents learned that he was in the process of purchasing an AR-15 rifle from an online dealer. Suzuki was arrested immediately thereafter.
“The defendant, in this case, made credible threats to shoot members of various minority groups, and then purchased a semi-automatic rifle. While all Americans enjoy a constitutional right to free speech, that right does not include a right to threaten or terrorize other individuals,” U.S. Attorney Clay Joyner said. “The U.S. Attorney’s Office will vigorously prosecute such conduct, and the agents and prosecutors who worked to stop this potential mass shooting are to be commended.”
The FBI investigated the case.
As the campaign heats up in the final weeks before November’s U.S. midterms elections, so have overt appeals to racial animus and resentment, reported The Washington Post (WP) last week.
“The toxic remarks appear to be receiving less pushback from Republicans than in past years, suggesting that some candidates in the first post-Trump election cycle have been influenced by the ex-president’s norm-breaking example,” said the report.
The racial invective has come at a time when Democrats are dealing with their own scandal in Los Angeles, where Democratic city council members and a labor leader were recorded making racist statements, according to the report.
Civil rights leaders say they are holding out hope that the environment will improve after the U.S. midterms but worry that each new attack further erodes the standards for how people in public life talk about race and religion.
“I don’t know if it’ll be very easy to put the genie back in the bottle,” Jonathan Greenblatt, the chief executive of the Anti-Defamation League, was quoted as saying.
The racist messages from prominent Republicans came in rapid succession. It was on Friday, Sept. 30, when Donald Trump used racist language toward Elaine Chao, who served as his transportation secretary for four years. A week later, Republican Sen. Tommy Tuberville of Alabama used racist rhetoric about Black people, crime and reparations.
The next day, Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia re-emphasized her support for the racist “great replacement” conspiracy theory. All the while, Black candidates for the U.S. Senate were confronting attack ads emphasizing race in unsubtle ways. Yesterday, for good measure, Trump thought it’d be a good idea to dabble in antisemitism — again.
To be sure, the push isn’t especially surprising. It’s also an offensive with ample precedent in the American tradition. What’s more, it’s very likely to have the intended effect: The right would steer clear of such ugly tactics if conservatives were convinced they wouldn’t work.
But The Washington Post had a good report over the weekend noting the difference between this year’s offensive messaging and what voters have seen in recent years.
LA council member Kevin de Leon said he won’t resign over racist remarks he made in a leaked recording.
Speaking in an interview with Univision Noticias, de Leon repeated an earlier apology and said that he was wrong, but he defied calls to step down — coming from people including President Joe Biden and Mayor Eric Garcetti.
The push for de Leon and fellow LA council member Gil Cedillo, who was also part of the taped conversation, to depart has led to protests outside their homes and at Los Angeles City Hall, shutting down council meetings.
Last week, Nury Martinez stepped down as LA council president and ultimately resigned from her seat amid the deepening scandal over racist comments she made last year, revealed in the leaked audio, about a colleague’s young Black son. In the exchange, de Leon said the child’s father, who is White, carries around his son like a designer handbag.
A fourth participant, Los Angeles County Federation of Labor President Ron Herrera, also resigned from his position last week.
In the interview on Wednesday, de León said that he “failed in that moment in time in not stepping up and shutting the meeting down.”
Martinez resigned the council presidency last week and later her council seat. Herrera also stepped down. It’s still not known who recorded the conversation, which took place last year and the labor federation headquarters.
But de León and Cedillo, so far have resisted calls to step aside from a number of colleagues and top Democrats, including President Joe Biden. Cedillo will soon be departing the council anyway at the end of the year after he failed to win another term, but de León’s term runs through 2024.
During the conversation, Martinez used the Spanish term for “monkey” to refer to Bonin’s son, while de León appeared to agree with her comment that the child was used like a fashion accessory like Martinez’s designer handbag. De Leon called that remark “flippant.”