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Racism

U.S. Incarceration Trends 1970 to 2014

Brian K. Noe · October 26, 2017 ·

Vera Data Map

The Vera Institute of Peace has created a tool for examining and comparing incarceration data across the United States by county.

You may have already seen our data tool—Incarceration Trends—on jail and prison populations in every U.S. county. Right now, we’re expanding our efforts to make sure that everyone knows how many people are incarcerated in their backyards, so they can power the fight against mass incarceration.

They’re encouraging everyone to share this on Facebook.

I’m still learning my way around the tool, but the information about Kankakee County that I’ve been able to digest is troubling.

Filed Under: Reports Tagged With: 13th Amendment, Injustice, Injustice System, Kankakee County, Mass Incarcertaion, Racism, War on Some Drugs

Lest We Forget: W.E.B. Du Bois

Brian K. Noe · February 8, 2017 ·

This was originally written for Learnist. Sadly, that site is no longer online, so I’ll be republishing some of the articles here.

In the first of this series honoring American heroes unknown to many Americans, we remember the great philosopher and freedom fighter W.E.B. Du Bois, founder of the NAACP.

Du Bois’ Early Life in Massachusetts

William Edward Burghardt Du Bois was born in Massachusetts on February 23, 1868, less than three years after the end of the American Civil War. His mother’s grandfather was a slave named Tom Burghardt, who served in the Continental Army during the War of Independence and gained his freedom. Du Bois’ father’s grandfather was a French-American slave owner.

Du Bois’ father left him and his mother when the child was only two years old. They moved into her parent’s home for awhile, and she worked to support herself and her son until she suffered a stroke when Du Bois was in his early teens. She passed from this life when Du Bois was only seventeen years old.

Du Bois attended an integrated public school in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, growing up alongside white classmates in a community that would have been considered “tolerant” for that time. Later in life, Du Bois would write of the racism that was a part of his daily life as a child, despite living in a place that wasn’t formally segregated.

His sharp intellect was apparent to his teachers, and he was encouraged to pursue a higher education. Du Bois would be the first African American to earn a Doctorate from Harvard.

First Experiences in the South

It was during his four years of study from 1885 through 1888 at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, that Du Bois first witnessed and experienced Southern Racism. Formal segregation was the law and lynchings of African Americans were commonplace. In fact, between 1880 and 1930, more than 2000 black men, women, and children were killed by lynch mobs.

A less courageous man might never again have ventured to the South after graduation from Fisk, but Du Bois would return to teach at Atlanta University in 1897.

Address to the Nations of the World

In 1900 Du Bois gave the closing address at the First Pan African Congress held in London.

He began: “In the metropolis of the modern world, in this the closing year of the nineteenth century, there has been assembled a congress of men and women of African blood, to deliberate solemnly upon the present situation and outlook of the darker races of mankind. The problem of the twentieth century is the problem of the color line, the question as to how far differences of race-which show themselves chiefly in the color of the skin and the texture of the hair-will hereafter be made the basis of denying to over half the world the right of sharing to utmost ability the opportunities and privileges of modern civilization.”

He appealed to all people and all nations: “Let the world take no backward step in that slow but sure progress which has successively refused to let the spirit of class, of caste, of privilege, or of birth, debar from life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness a striving human soul.”

Break with Booker T. Washington: The Niagara Movement

After the brutal lynching of Sam Holt in Atlanta in 1899, Du Bois was moved to increasing activism, having grown frustrated with the capitulation of the most well-known and popular African American leader of the time, Booker T. Washington.

Du Bois called for a meeting of black leaders to be held at Niagara Falls, New York. The meeting was eventually held on the Canadian side of the Falls, after being denied accommodations in white hotels on the American side.

They drafted a manifesto that included the following declaration. “We claim for ourselves every single right that belongs to a freeborn American, political, civil and social; and until we get these rights we will never cease to protest and assail the ears of America. The battle we wage is not for ourselves alone but for all true Americans. It is a fight for ideals, lest this, our common fatherland, false to its founding, become in truth the land of the thief and the home of the slave…”

The Souls of Black Folk

In 1903, W.E.B. Du Bois published one of his most influential works, The Souls of Black Folk. It included 14 essays, each chapter beginning with a poetic quote.

A major theme of the book was the dual nature of consciousness for Black Americans.

“After the Egyptian and Indian, the Greek and Roman, the Teuton and Mongolian, the Negro is a sort of seventh son, born with a veil, and gifted with second-sight in this American world,—a world which yields him no true self-consciousness, but only lets him see himself through the revelation of the other world. It is a peculiar sensation, this double-consciousness, this sense of always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity. One ever feels his twoness,—an American, a Negro; two souls, two thoughts, two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals in one dark body, whose dogged strength alone keeps it from being torn asunder.”

“The history of the American Negro,” wrote Du Bois, “is the history of this strife.”

You can read the entire book for free at Project Gutenberg.

The NAACP and The Crisis Magazine

In the wake of the horrific race riots in Springfield, Illinois in 1908, a bi-racial alliance was formed that would become the NAACP.

Founded on the principles expressed by the Niagara Movement, the NAACP’s main goal was to ensure the political, educational, social and economic equality of minority group citizens of the United States and to eliminate race prejudice.

Du Bois founded The Crisis magazine as the premier crusading voice for civil rights. The official magazine of the NAACP, it is now one of the oldest black periodicals in the nation.

The NAACP continues to be a “multiracial army of ordinary women and men from every walk of life, race and class–united to awaken the consciousness of a people and a nation.”

The Harlem Renaissance

In the 1920s and 30s, Harlem became the center of a “spiritual coming of age” ushering in a literary, artistic, and intellectual movement that kindled a new black cultural identity.

In addition to reporting and advocacy, The Crisis became a leading voice of the Harlem Renaissance, as Du Bois published works by Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen and other African American literary figures.

Learn more about the Harlem Renaissance in this video from History.com.

Leftist Politics, Peace Activism and Government Repression

Like many great Americans who upheld the ideals of peace, freedom and universal brotherhood, Du Bois became a target for the FBI and McCarthyism.

A longtime activist against imperial warfare, in 1950 Du Bois became chairman of the Peace Information Center, formed to promote the Stockholm Appeal which demanded the outlawing of atomic weapons.

The Justice department required that the Peace Information Center register with the federal government as an “agent of a foreign state.” Du Bois refused and was put to trial. Though the case was dismissed, the government confiscated Du Bois’s passport, holding it for the next eight years.

Du Bois had run for the United States Senate from New York in 1950 on the ticket of the American Labor Party, a group which had split from the Socialist Party of America. His belief that racism around the world was primarily a function of capitalism would eventually lead him to join the Communist Party in the early 1960s, at the age of 93. He reasoned that the Communist ideal was to build a world “whose object is the highest welfare of its people and not merely the profit of a part.”

Du Bois’ Death in Ghana and Enduring Legacy

In October of 1961, Du Bois and his wife traveled to Ghana to work on an encyclopedia of the African diaspora to be called the Encyclopedia Africana. The United States government refused to renew his passport in 1963, so he became a citizen of Ghana, where he died at the age of 95.

By coincidence, the March on Washington was held on August 28, 1963, the day after his death. Although Du Bois did not live to see the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 or the Voting Rights Act of 1965, these landmark pieces of legislation codified into the law of the land much of what Du Bois had struggled for his entire life.

His legacy endures today in the work of historians such as Henry Louis Gates and Anthony Appiah, in The Crisis magazine, in the ongoing efforts of the NAACP, and in the struggles of people everywhere who strive for a more just and peaceful world.

Filed Under: Lest We Forget Tagged With: America, Anti-Racism, Black History, Communism, DuBois, Harlem Renaissance, Heroes, History, NAACP, Race, Racism

How to Disrupt Racism

Brian K. Noe · November 11, 2016 ·

Since the election of Donald Trump, bigots in the United States have been emboldened, and racist attacks are on the rise. I’ve been looking for practical steps that we can take to protect our neighbors and friends who may become victims.

This video, produced in the wake of the Brexit vote by the UK Racial Justice Network, is excellent.

I’ll continue to research this subject and share anything of value here in future posts.

If you have resources to share, please comment or shoot me an email.

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: Activism, Anti-Racism, Brexit, Disruption, Justice, Racism, Resources, Social Justice, UK

2016 Kankakee Stand Against Racism

Brian K. Noe · May 9, 2016 ·

The YWCA’s Stand Against Racism event was held at the Kankakee Public Library on April 28th. My wife and I both attended. There were perhaps fifty or so others in attendance.

We watched this TED Talk from Verna Myers prior to discussion.

I think all of her points are apt. A society where we’re “colorblind” is obviously the goal, but we can’t get there by pretending it already exists. Moving toward situations that make us uncomfortable is also key to breaking down the walls that divide us.

Her point about the necessity of directly confronting racism, especially around people we love, is important. It’s a lot easier just to turn a blind eye. Although she uses the specific example of family gatherings, I think it’s also crucial to call out racism beyond our friends and families, in our workplaces, our churches and the broader community as well.

One of the participants mentioned the Implicit Bias Test during discussion. If you’re interested in taking the test yourself, here’s the link. Be forewarned that the results may be an eye-opener.

Filed Under: Events Tagged With: Anti-Racism, Implicit Bias, Racism, Stand Against Racism, Verna Myers, YWCA

Hate Groups On The Rise

Brian K. Noe · February 19, 2016 ·

2015-hate-map-splc

The number of extremist groups operating in the United States grew in 2015 according to the Southern Poverty Law Center’s annual census of hate groups and other extremist organizations.

Much of this growth can be attributed to the shameful bigoted rhetoric of Donald Trump and other candidates within the GOP. It’s not an exaggeration to say that the Republican party has become one of the leading national advocates for hatred.

Read More: SPLC’s Intelligence Report: Amid Year of Lethal Violence, Extremist Groups Expanded Ranks in 2015 | Southern Poverty Law Center

Click here to download the full report in PDF format.

splc-ir-spring-2016

Filed Under: News Tagged With: America, Donald Trump, GOP, Hate Groups, Hatred, Racism, Republicans, Right Wing, SPLC

blackface massacree

Brian K. Noe · January 27, 2016 ·

30 years defending poor blacks
and this undermines those efforts

his wife, in the 2012 election, denies leaking

elin nordegren
came close to brief comment:
“i wouldn’t dress up.”

he suspects that enforcement
is calling for white performers
who use black paint
for a protest
and then gag his opponents

the other republican running was part of a couple’s costume

the former lead
which began making a job that he’s not capable of
tried to explain, hearkening back to a style
to bow out of and act out
insulting black stereotypes
like a battered tiger woods.

days of slavery

persisting for decades

but what has given fuel to the president of the local 9-iron?

Filed Under: Poetry Tagged With: Blackface, Cut-Up Technique, Halloween, Kankakee, Politics, Racism

Racial Taboo Townhall Meeting October 27th

Brian K. Noe · September 1, 2015 ·

The Kankakee County Branch NAACP will be co-sponsoring a townhall meeting on race, featuring the film Racial Taboo, at the Kankakee Public Library auditorium on Tuesday October 27th, 2015 from 6 to 8 PM. The meeting will be an opportunity to learn more about the relationships in our society between people of various races, to discuss the topic in small groups, and to perhaps begin to establish your own friendships across racial lines.

Source: Racial Taboo Townhall Meeting October 27th – Kankakee County Branch NAACP

Filed Under: Video Tagged With: Anti-Racism, Kankakee, NAACP, Race, Racism

Barbara Ransby on Black Lives Matter

Brian K. Noe · June 13, 2015 ·

UIC Historian Barbara Ransby writes for Colorlines about the black-led movement against state violence. In two short paragraphs she describes the essence of late-stage capitalism, coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

The post-industrial era and the age of global neoliberal policies means cities and neighborhoods have been abandoned. Some of the areas where police have recently killed black civilians are reeling from more than 30 percent unemployment. They’re challenged by a booming underground economy that puts participants and bystanders at greater risk of being jailed or killed.

In Chicago’s North Lawndale, in West Baltimore, or almost any neighborhood in my hometown of Detroit, there simply are no jobs and no real grocery stores. There is dilapidated and abandoned housing and dramatically dwindling services. The one problem, from a crude capitalist standpoint, is that there are still people in these post-economic areas but their labor is no longer needed in the steel mills, factories or private homes. These superfluous, redundant bodies are the dilemma of 21st Century racial capitalism.

Read the Full Essay: Ella Taught Me: Shattering the Myth of the Leaderless Movement | Colorlines

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Black Lives Matter, Capitalism, Class Struggles, Late-Stage Capitalism, Racism

Reflections on the Second Revolution

Brian K. Noe · June 6, 2015 ·

One hundred and fifty years ago, on June 2, 1865, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith, commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signed the Union Army’s terms of surrender. This marked the final end of the Civil War which, as Patrick Ayers explains, can also truly be described as America’s Second Revolution.

Read More: 1865: A Revolutionary Turning Point in U.S. History | Socialist Alternative

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Racism, Revolution, Slavery, Socialist Alternative, U.S. Civil War

Ruth Wilson Gilmore on Baltimore

Brian K. Noe · May 4, 2015 ·

Historian and geographer Ruth Wilson Gilmore claims that the rebellion in Baltimore is an uprising against austerity. She says that gentrified cities, the fall of manufacturing and the filling of jails with black men all fueled the reaction to the killing of Freddie Gray.

The US is more segregated by race and income now than in 1960.

Read More: The rebellion in Baltimore is an uprising against austerity, claims top US academic | US news | The Guardian

Filed Under: Curated Links Tagged With: Austerity, Baltimore, Freddie Gray, Racism, Segregation, The Guardian, Uprising

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