Year: 2020

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Featured Racial profiling

Before George Floyd – More Police Brutality captured on film – Video

We are currently in yet another nationwide backlash over police brutality. We sat in the comfort of our homes and watched as Minneapolis police knelt on the neck of a human being – a black man – for almost nine minutes in an obvious effort to end the man’s life.

It worked. George Floyd’s last words included calling for his mother and begging the cops for another chance to breathe. Witnessing his death caused Americans of all races to take to the street in protest what they saw on television.

But what about the times the event was not captured on film? Or are we to believe that the only time blacks are murdered by police is when a cellphone is around? That likelihood of that being the case is laughable. 

Below is a compilation of a few times the event was captured on film.

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BLM Featured Racial profiling

Gregg Popovich – Donald Trump is “a deranged idiot”

Gregg Popovich, Head Coach of the San Antonio Spurs, went in on Donald Trump and his inability to lead this country in this time of need. Speaking to The Nation’s Dave Zirin, Popovich condemned Trump as a “deranged idiot” concerned only with what benefits himself. He concluded that “what we have is a fool for president.”

“It’s so clear what needs to be done. We need a president to come out and say simply that ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Just say those three words. But he won’t and he can’t. He can’t because it’s more important to him to mollify the small group of followers who validate his insanity. But it’s more than just Trump. The system has to change. I’ll do whatever I can do to help because that’s what leaders do. But he can’t do anything to put us on a positive path because he’s not a leader.

“It’s like what Lindsay Graham and Ted Cruz used to say when they had the courage to say it: He’s unfit. But they have chosen instead to be invisible and obsequious in the face of this carnage. In the end what we have is a fool in place of a president, while the person who really runs the country, Senator Mitch McConnell, destroys the United States for generations to come. McConnell has destroyed and degraded our judicial system. He has tried to destroy health care. He’s destroyed the environment. He’s the master and Trump’s the stooge, and what’s funny is that Trump doesn’t even know it. Trump’s always wanted to be part of the in-group, but McConnell is an in-group of one, and Trump plays the fool.

“He’s not just divisive. He’s a destroyer. To be in his presence makes you die. He will eat you alive for his own purposes. I’m appalled that we have a leader who can’t say ‘Black Lives Matter.’ That’s why he hides in the White House basement. He is a coward. He creates a situation and runs away like a grade-schooler. Actually, I think it’s best to ignore him. There is nothing he can do to make this better because of who he is: a deranged idiot.”

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Featured Racial profiling

Store Owner – I Wish We Hadn’t Call Cops on George Floyd

The owner of Cup Foods, the Minneapolis store where a clerk called 911 on George Floyd, says his business will no longer involve the police in certain incidents until law enforcement stops “killing innocent people.”

On Sunday, Mahmoud Abumayyaleh posted a lengthy note on Facebook to say that he supports the protests over the death of Floyd, a Black man who died after a white officer knelt on his neck outside Cup Foods, and said his store is “deeply saddened for our part of this tragedy.”

“We have been a cornerstone and pillar of this community for three generations of our family and for 31 years have proudly served our neighborhood. Since George’s untimely passing, Cup Foods has been in regular contact with Floyd’s family who flew in from Houston,” Abumayyaleh wrote, adding that his store is “standing together to demand accountability from the cops.”

Abumayyaleh also said that he’ll be “donating to pay for George Floyd’s memorial service” and pledged to change how his store handles “incidents like this one.”

From Facebook

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Racial profiling

Brutal Police Actions Against Police Brutality Protesters – Video

Dressed in riot gear police pepper-spray one of two protesters who attempted to block the first convoy of military vehicles out of the Port of Olympia Sunday morning bound for Fort Lewis.Tension at the scene eased after that initial confrontation as later convoys left the terminal without any major incidents.Steve Bloom/The Olympian

George Floyd’s murder at the hands of Minneapolis police last week was broadcasted for the world to see, and it sparked outrage throughout this nation. People from every race and background took to the streets in protest, exercising their constitutionally protected right to speak out against police brutality. But while protesting police brutality, some police officers are using this occasion to fight the protestors, violently and brutally.

See this 20-minute compilation video showing just some of the many police brutality claims since George Floyd spent the last 9 minutes of his life with the knee of a police officer on his neck.

Video 

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Coronavirus Featured Racial profiling

Another Virus Is Spreading

Covid-19 has killed hundreds of thousands.

Racism has killed millions.

Only one of them is presently curable, but it looks like we’re spending more time and money on the one that isn’t, although it’s only been around for a few months. We are now in the middle of both a pandemic and an epidemic, and there’s no national leadership to get us through either one of them.

The death of George Floyd is far more than a reminder of how deeply racism infects the United States. It’s an indictment of how some police officers act when allowed and enabled to abuse their power, and how many citizens express their frustrations and anger. I don’t want to see any violence or rioting, but when the courts, the police, the power structure, the economy and now the virus demonstrate how prejudiced they are against African-Americans, it’s no wonder that many see violence as the only way to get the attention of those who have been willfully and culturally ignorant of their discrimination.

The key will be what happens when the violence ends. Right now it’s easy to focus on the immediate events and the terrible images we see hour by hour, but that will eventually stop. That’s when the real work begins, and if history is any guide, we are in for a long struggle. The president has spoken to the Floyd family, but at the same time he’s sent threatening Twitter messages that hearken back to the bad old days of white resistance to civil rights laws. His past messages and actions have done very little to send a message that he can lead on this issue.

And Joe Biden will need to be more forceful, more specific, and more responsible with his responses and proposed solutions. His record on racial issues is far better than Trump’s, but Biden has to provide workable policies that move beyond community outreach or complaint review boards, which have shown to be effective when they are given the power they need, but otherwise are forgotten after the tempers cool.

But of course the best solution is for all people who oppose the president’s policies to register and vote this November. The first step is to march and let people know that these actions are unacceptable. The second step is to vote. There is no excuse not to.



For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Featured Racial profiling

Obama’s Statement on George Floyd’s Killing – “This shouldn’t be normal in 2020 America”

Barack Obama, the former President of the United States, shared his feelings on the recent killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police earlier this week. In his statement, the former president states:

From Barack Obama:

I want to share parts of the conversation I’ve had with friends over the past couple days about the footage of George Floyd dying face down on the street under the knee of a police officer in Minnesota.

The first is an email from a middle-aged African American businessman.

“Dude I gotta tell you the George Floyd incident in Minnesota hurt. I cried when I saw that video. It broke me down. The ‘knee on the neck’ is a metaphor for how the system so cavalierly holds black folks down, ignoring the cries for help. People don’t care. Truly tragic.”

Another friend of mine used the powerful song that went viral from 12-year-old Keedron Bryant to describe the frustrations he was feeling.

The circumstances of my friend and Keedron may be different, but their anguish is the same. It’s shared by me and millions of others.

It’s natural to wish for life “to just get back to normal” as a pandemic and economic crisis upend everything around us. But we have to remember that for millions of Americans, being treated differently on account of race is tragically, painfully, maddeningly “normal” – whether it’s while dealing with the health care system, or interacting with the criminal justice system, or jogging down the street, or just watching birds in a park.

This shouldn’t be “normal” in 2020 America. It can’t be “normal.” If we want our children to grow up in a nation that lives up to its highest ideals, we can and must be better.

It will fall mainly on the officials of Minnesota to ensure that the circumstances surrounding George Floyd’s death are investigated thoroughly and that justice is ultimately done. But if falls on all of us, regardless of our race or station – including the majority of men and women in law enforcement who take pride in doing their tough job the right way, every day – to work together to create a “new normal” in which the legacy of bigotry and unequal treatment no longer infects our institutions or our hearts.

Categories
Racial profiling

“Before You Call The Cops…” A black man’s Request – Video

I’m not sure if there was ever a time when the cops were called to serve and protect. Those days probably exist for a select few, but for black Americans, calling the cops was often not the go-to solution because you never really knew how that call was going to end. 

Cops being called to a scene involving a black person is almost sure to result in a negative outcome… for the black person. They say it’s not racism, but for minorities in this country, tomorrow is never promised when the cops are called.

When police in Minneapolis was called to investigate an incident, George Floyd, a black man, was removed from his vehicle, handcuffed, and thrown to the ground while a police officer knelt on his neck. Mr. Floyd cried out for breath multiple times before his death with the cop’s knee still on his neck. The police tried to justify the killing by saying Mr. Floyd resisted arrest, even though multiple videos taken at the scene showed no resistance from the man. 

The “Before you call” video below shows a black man, Tyler Merritt, explaining that he is not a monster, that he is just a regular man who should not have to die if those responsible for serving and protecting him is called.

Video

Categories
Racial profiling

Another Black Man Says “I Can’t Breathe” as He is Killed by Minneapolis Police – Video

Another black man cries for air. All he wanted was another breath. But this basic necessity of life was denied, his cries fell on deft ears as a Minneapolis police officer kept his knee on the black man’s neck until his body succumbed to its untimely end.

Rest In Peace to George Floyd. You were taken down, pinned to the ground, and suffocated. The average human would not do this to an animal. But it was done to you. For what it’s worth, the world will remember your name.

Four police officers were fired after this incident, but with their trusted police union – an organization yet to find any fault with their members senselessly murdering black people –  you can almost guarantee that they will get their jobs back.

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Coronavirus Featured

The Pandemic Schools the US

Reform blackboard - education reform or other. Hand writing REFORM with chalk on black chalkboard.

If only the education system would stand up to it.

Unfortunately, what we have at the national level is a know-very-little president and an Education Secretary who cares not a whit about anything to do with public education, and who made sure that public money is being funneled to private a religious institutions to the detriment of neighborhood schools. I certainly understand that parents should have a choice if they don’t want to send their child to a public school, but it’s their…choice, and public schools should always be the first recipient of public money. Which makes the public school system the next institution that will need significant reform. 

As this article says, the very manner in which we fund and organize public schools needs to change. It’s been true for a great number of years; the pandemic has simply exposed it. We have too many public school districts in this country, and they all compete for scarce dollars. Worse, though, is the inherent inequality that sits in side-by-side communities. There is no reason for this to occur. True, the neighborhood school has been part of American life for more than two centuries, but times have changed and education is a key to future opportunities. To deny anyone a quality education based on artificial lines only serves to exclude children from taking full advantage of what this country has to offer.

What we need to change is the way we distribute funds. In New Jersey, there are over 550 school districts and each one relies on local tax money for its funding. Districts that include wealthy towns can buy more services. Those that don’t have the same resources get less. Many districts get very little. Because of lawsuits aimed at increasing educational equity, many districts receive a great deal of state aid, while others, usually the wealthier ones, have to rely on ever-increasing property taxes for funding. Resentment runs deep when any politician hints at ending this home rule. But to keep it means continued inequities and fewer educational opportunities.

Changing borders and district lines makes sense because more students will have access to educational resources. Shared services and shared communities might help break down social barriers. There will be some pain, too. Teachers will lose their jobs and some towns might lose schools. It won’t be free.

Right now, though, we are living through a time when many children do not have computers or reliable internet connections. Many are missing meals. Many are not showing up to school because local or state governments can’t afford to provide remote services. Parents without reliable, or any, health insurance must continue to physically go to work, facing a choice between their money or their lives. This must stop. This country can afford to provide for its children. We need the political will to do that.


For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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Featured

IRS Want Some People to Mail Back their Stimulus Checks

So… if you were one of the unfortunate Americans who lost a loved one during these trying times, and if the IRS sent a stimulus check to that deceased family member, the IRS is asking you to send them that money back.

In fact, the IRS says any checks issued to dead people should be sent back or repaid. Here’s exactly what the agency says:

A Payment made to someone who died before receipt of the Payment should be returned to the IRS by following the instructions in the Q&A about repayments. Return the entire Payment unless the Payment was made to joint filers and one spouse had not died before receipt of the Payment, in which case, you only need to return the portion of the Payment made on account of the decedent. This amount will be $1,200 unless adjusted gross income exceeded $150,000.

The new provision stating that payments to the deceased should be returned may come as a surprise. As MONEY has previously reported, tens of thousands of similar aid payments were mistakenly sent to dead people during the Great Recession, likely due to a lag in the reporting of deaths to government agencies. Back then, there was little to no effort on the part of the IRS to get the payments to dead people back. What’s more, in recent weeks many tax and legal experts had been under the impression that 2020 payments sent to dead people would probably not have to be returned.

Now the IRS is saying otherwise. Even so, it remains unclear what will happen if an ineligible payment is not returned to the IRS.

Categories
Donald Trump

‘Morning in America’ – The Trump’s Version of America

Donald Trump is not Ronald Reagan, and should not even be mentioned in the same category as the loved and often praised Ronald Reagan. So when a political campaign ad titled ‘Morning in America’ debuted yesterday, many recalled the 1984 political ad by Reagan’s campaign with the same name.

Reagan’s ad highlighted some of the positive aspects of the economy under Reagan’s leadership. The 2020 version of Morning in America under Trump’s leadership, however, is very different.

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Featured

Silence On Education

For all of the stories I’ve read about online schooling and how difficult it is to entertain and engage children of all ages while being quarantined in one’s home, I still don’t get the sense that we are talking about education, and how profoundly the system must change in the post-pandemic United States.

What this crisis has uncovered is the dire state of education regarding schooling, infrastructure, funding, practice, equity, and opportunity. We’ve always thought of ourselves as a country whose system of public education reflects the democratic values upon which it was founded. Now we can’t even guarantee that all students are reporting for the daily or weekly Zoom call that forms the basis of their learning. And it wasn’t that before we all went online the education system was running smoothly or meeting the needs of all children. It was not. But now we know that we have gaping holes that will need to be fixed.

The crowd that currently holds power in Washington will say that education is the realm of the states, and constitutionally, they are right. Most states were free to create and maintain their school systems. What that’s done, though, is to create 50 separate systems divided into thousands of county and local school systems who are free to set their policies, to determine what they teach and generally how to teach it. Attempts such as the Common Core Curriculum Standards to tie the states together so they are teaching the same skills and holding students accountable to them received push-back from the right because of the loss of state control, and the left because of the focus on testing to determine student and teacher growth. Common Core is doomed to irrelevance.

Add in the problem of funding, and you see why we are where we are. Wealthier states and districts can afford to give every student a computer, and generally, those towns and suburbs are where the vast majority of homes have an internet connection. Those wealthier areas can also afford to pay teachers more and to provide them, and their students, with more resources and programs. Those towns also have a higher percentage of parents whose jobs have not been destroyed because of lockdowns. They also tend to be whiter.

And so, here we are.

What to do? We need a massive, federal investment in the schools. Every child should be given a computer to use and a reliable internet connection that will enable them to explore the world. Every child should have access to resources such as school trips, enrichment activities, speakers, literacy materials, and safe, sustainable buildings. Teachers should be paid a great deal more than they are now so they don’t have to worry about getting two jobs to support themselves.

And everybody–everybody–should have affordable, high-quality health insurance so they don’t have to worry about making a choice between education or food or housing or entertainment and getting medical care.

States cannot do this on their own because they must balance their budgets. Only the federal government can provide the funding and resources to provide what every child, and every family, needs to succeed. This is not going to happen under this administration or, I suspect, under any Republican presidency. We need a change.

Are you registered to vote?



For more, go to www.facebook.com/WhereDemocracyLives or Twitter @rigrundfest

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