Category: Discrimination

Conversations Of A Sistah, Discrimination, Tracy L. Bell - Blog Talk Radio, Tracy L. Bell Host Conversations Of A Sistah

Religious Belief or Discrimination? Tonight on “Conversations Of A Sistah”

The ReadyWriter

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the Colorado baker who refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple on the basis of his religious beliefs.

Critics argue the baker’s decision to deny service based on a couple’s sexual orientation is discriminatory, and therefore illegal. But religious freedom advocates say the baker has every right to not bake a cake that goes against his religious beliefs, and a private business should be free to refuse service to anyone. Is this considered discriminatory?

Critics argue businesses are not legally allowed to discriminate, so why should this case be any different? Could a business refuse to bake a cake for a black couple? No. So why shouldn’t same-sex couples be allowed the same protection?

You’re free to believe whatever you want, but you’re not free to refuse service to someone because of who they are. In this case, the baker is refusing service to the gay couple because of who they are. They are engaging in a gay marriage ceremony because they are gay men who want to get married. It’s fundamentally about who they are as people. Is this is discrimination, plain and simple?

Freedom of speech and freedom of religion do not exempt business owners from public accommodations laws, which require them to serve customers equally. However, the Supreme Court ruled in the bakery owners favor.

Tune in tonight at 6:30 p.m. est with host, Tracy L. Bell on “Conversations Of A Sistah” via blog talk radio. Use “all links” in this post to access the show.

Not everyone is in favor of same sex unions, on that note, we welcome your opinion.

Controversy, Demonstration, Discrimination, Mike Brown, Racial tension, racial unrest, Racist

It is going to get messy in Ferguson, Mo!

The ReadyWriter

Mike Brown Darren Wilson

The cop who fatally shot unarmed teen Michael Brown set off a wave of protests in Ferguson, Mo.— all because he told investigators he feared for his life when he pulled the trigger that killed the unarmed teen.

Darren Wilson testified before a grand jury over this case, that Mike Brown punched, pushed, scratched and reached for his gun, which led to him gunning down and unloading six bullets into the teen, killing him out of anger.

Wilson told federal officials that Brown shoved him in his SUV, then grabbed his gun. The teens blood was found on Wilson’s gun, his uniform and in the SUV.

Wilson testified for four hours before a grand jury last month, which means this case is already being favored to side on Wilson’s testimony alone, although his version of events contradict what several other witnesses said about the incident that day.

The prosecutors leading this case are ex policeman, with the head prosecutor, whose father  was killed by a black man. The citizens of Ferguson, MO as well as Brown’s parents already know Wilson will not be indicated.

There will be NO JUSTICE in this case, which is why the officials in Ferguson will have NO PEACE!

Controversy, Discrimination, Just a thought, Magazines, Prejudice, Racist, What she said

Is It Okay To Put White Women On The Covers Of Black Magazines?

The ReadyWriter

photo

That’s essentially the question that Jada Pinkett-Smith posed to her Facebook friends recently.

There is a question I want to ask today. I’m asking this question in the spirit  of thinking outside of the box in order to open doors to new possibilities.  These possibilities may be realistic or unrealistic. I also want to make it  clear that there is no finger-pointing here. I pose this question with the hope  that it opens a discussion about how we can build a community for women based  upon us all taking a deeper interest in one another. An interest where skin  color, culture, and social class does not create barriers in sharing the  commonality of being… women.

With love and respect to all parties involved, my question is this…if we ask our  white sisters, who tend to be the guardians of the covers of mainstream  magazines, to consider women of color to grace these covers, should we not offer  the same consideration to white women to grace our covers? Should women extend  their power to other women simply because they are women? To my women of color,  I am clear we must have something of our own, but is it possible to share in the  spirit in which we ask our white sisters to share with us? I don’t know the  answer and would love to hear your thoughts.

J

What do you all think? Should white women grace the cover of African-American magazines such as, Essence, Ebony and Jet? Sound off and have a great weekend!

Controversy, Discrimination, Drama, Education/Schools, Election 2012, Politics, Prejudice, President Obama, Protest/Boycott, Racist

Mississippi Still Racist in 2012!

The ReadyWriter

About 600 ‘Ole Miss’ students gathered Wednesday for the “We Are One Mississippi” counter-protest. Racial slurs were used when about 400 students gathered to protest President Obama’s re-election Tuesday night. The Tuesday night protest grew to about 400 students after Obama was re-elected.

Some shouted, “The South will rise again” during the protest, eyewitnesses and university police officials told The Clarion-Ledger. Others used racial slurs. An Obama campaign sign was also burned.

University of Mississippi students held a candlelight march to protest a spontaneous anti-Obama demonstration on Election Night that turned ugly when some students shouted racial slurs.

Ole Miss is still grappling with its legacy as the setting of racial riots in 1962 after James H. Meredith was enrolled as the school’s first black student. Two people were killed in the violent protests, which forced President John F. Kennedy to send in federal troops.

“It just makes me angry that we’re celebrating 50 years of integration yet people decided to be stupid last night and throw a fit over the election,” student Jordan Price told WREG.

“There’s no place for something like this in our school,” student Mackenzie Widder said.

School and police officials told The Clarion-Ledger that some reports, including those describing the demonstration as a “riot,” were exaggerated.

Dean of Students Sparky Reardon said: “There were tens of thousands of other Ole Miss students who were studying or working for campus media or attending election watch parties. They were busy doing what Ole Miss does best”

 The school is working on an appropriate response to the incident.

All of this took place because President Barack Obama was re-elected for a second term? What did they do four years ago when he was elected?

Discrimination, Law and order, News, Racist, Slow news day

Connecticut town wants to remain all white!

The ReadyWriter

They want the nice houses, with the manicured lawns and white picket fences in their all white communities. This was the goal of the Housing Authority in Winchester, CT. and by doing so, it’s Housing Authority “systematically and unlawfully” discriminated against minorities in its administration of a federal housing subsidy program.

That’s right, the town of Winchester, Connecticut, discriminated against Blacks and Latinos by giving housing vouchers to mostly white people, this was the town’s way of “ensuring that overwhelmingly White communities remain overwhelmingly White.

As a result, Crystal Carter, an African-American woman, and the Connecticut Fair Housing Center sued the town’s Housing Authority last Wednesday. Carter alleges in the lawsuit that the Winchester Housing Authority refused to even mail her a Section 8 voucher application because she did not meet their residency requirements as a Hartford resident. Carter, an African-American single mother of six and domestic violence survivor, has been forced to live in homeless shelters and “other unstable environments” in Hartford because she could not find good housing, according to the lawsuit.

The Winchester Housing Authority plans to change its policies in light of the lawsuit. But let’s not be fooled people, there are a lot of economically segregated cities in America; Winchester is just the latest to get caught.