Tag: Racism in America

Racial Profiling, Racial tension, Racially motivated, Racism in America

‘You don’t belong in this building’: White man pulls GUN on black students at Florida A&M

The ReadyWriter

This is the terrifying moment when a white man pulls out a gun on a group of black students who were waiting for a friend to let them in to his college apartment block.

Footage posted on Twitter shows a man, identified as Don Crandall, blocking the entrance of several black Florida A&M University students to the Stadium Center student accommodation in Tallahassee last Saturday.

In the clip a group of students including Isaiah Butterfield, who filmed the incident, can be seen in a heated conversation with Crandall who at one point pulls out a gun.

Crandall had reportedly confronted the students as they waited outside the block for a friend to let them in to attend a party.

‘Find another elevator, you can’t get in this one,‘ Crandall can be heard saying as he blocks their way into the building.

‘Why not? Do you own the building?‘ the students asked.

‘Because you don’t belong in this building,‘ he replied, before adding, ‘You ain’t got a key for the building, you don’t belong in the elevator.’

Footage of the incident was posted on Twitter by Butterfield and is being investigated by Tallahassee police.

‘We are sick of the discrimination,’ Butterfield wrote alongside the tweet.

‘Never thought I’d have a personal experience with racism like this, this man pulled a gun on us because we were walking up to my friends apartment w/o a key.’

Butterfield later told ABC News he believed Crandall had been trying to ‘provoke’ the students in order to use his weapon.

‘Once we found out he had the gun, it turned into a whole different situation,’ Butterfield said.

‘We really think he was trying to provoke us to the point where it got violent so he could retaliate with the gun. I knew that if this dude even feels threatened, he’s going to find any excuse to pull the trigger.’

Twitter users later identified the man in the video as Crandall, the manager of a local hotel Baymont by Wyndham.

In a post on Instagram, the hotel confirmed his identity and said that he was no longer working there.

A spokesperson for Stadium Center also confirmed that Crandall did not live in the apartment block.

The Baymont by Wyndham hotel confirmed their former manager Don Crandall was the man involved with the incident. Notice they said “FORMER” Crandall was fired immediately.

Politics, Prejudice, President Obama

Senator Blames Obama for ‘Exacerbated Racism’ That Helped Elect Trump

The ReadyWriter

What will Former President Barack Obama be blamed for next?

Former Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) blames former President Barack Obama for the racial divide in America that helped sway voters to elect Donald Trump by a landslide. Santorum said Obama could have brought the country together but instead he increased racism in part by his response to police shootings.

Santorum made the accusations during a heated State of the Union panel discussion about racism on CNN Sunday.

The panel discussed a new book written by a former Obama adviser who quoted Obama as saying “What if we were wrong” about what the American people wanted from a president. “Maybe we pushed too far,” Obama said. “Maybe people just want to fall back into their tribe.”

Karine Jean-Pierre, a senior adviser and national spokeswoman for MoveOn.org, said it was “pretty horrific” to see voters rally behind Trump during the 2016 election.

“There was an uproar. You saw the Tea Party. You saw obstruction by Republicans time and time again,” Jean-Pierre said. “It is kind of problematic. It says a lot about this country, and Donald Trump tapped into it.”

Santorum added that Obama played a part in increasing racism that helped elect Trump to office.

“What’s being ignored here is the role that Barack Obama played in all this,” Santorum said. “You can’t just go from ‘well, we elected our first black president’ and ‘all of a sudden we get Donald Trump.’ There was something in between those two things.”

According to Santorum, “many, many, many people” saw Obama being racist himself, particularly after police shootings involving white cops killing unarmed black men.

“Every time there was a controversy with someone of color involved, he took the side, many times, against the police,” Santorum said. “He did it over and over and over again.”

Santorum added that Obama was “someone who could’ve brought this country together” but failed to do so.

Jean-Pierre, who sat beside Santorum on the panel, defended Obama, saying the few instances when Obama did speak up after police shootings he was standing up for people who had been unjustifiably treated.

She asked Santorum if he was referring to the shooting of Trayvon Martin in 2012, but time was running out and the panel discussion ended.

Santorum got the last word in, saying, “This president could’ve [brought us] together. He didn’t. He divided us.”

Seriously?

Hate, Hate crime, Racial tension, Racially motivated, Racism in America, Racist

Dylan Roof’s mother suffers heart attack as prosecutors detail attack plans

The ReadyWriter

dylann-roof-2016-08-04t162903zDylan Roof’s mother suffered a heart attack after prosecutors described how her son planned a cold and calculated killing of nine black church members in a racially motivated attack, Roof’s attorney said in court documents Thursday. 

Roof’s mother collapsed and said “I’m sorry” several times on Wednesday as family members and court security came to help her during the opening of her son’s federal death penalty trial. 

charleston_9Roof’s attorney mentioned the heart attack in court documents asking for a mistrial, because a survivor’s testimony was so emotional that “spectators and even court personnel – including members of the prosecution and defense – were crying with her.”

Felicia Sanders the lone survivor of  this horrific attack told jurors about the horror of seeing her son and her aunt shot to death and sheltering with her granddaughter beneath a table. At one point, she looked across the courtroom toward Roof and called him “evil, evil, evil.” 

“There’s no place on Earth for him other than the pit of hell.” Sanders concluded.

Computer images of the crime scene were shown to the jury. The pictures showed the victims lying in pools of blood on the beige tile floor of the fellowship hall at Emanuel AME Church. Most were clustered around circular tables where they had been holding a Bible study. 

The defense is trying to save Roof from getting a sentence of “death” and has said Roof is willing to plead guilty if the death penalty is taken off the table. They have made a similar offer in state court where Roof is charged with nine counts of murder and faces another death penalty trial next year.

Christmas Holiday, Racial Slurs, Racial tension, racial unrest, Racially motivated, Racism in America, Racist

Mall of America Shoppers Threaten Boycott After Mall Hires Black Santa

The ReadyWriter

santa-550x363A slew of bigoted shoppers at the trendy Mall of America in Minnesota are threatening to boycott after the mall hired its first black Santa Claus for 4 days.

Readers sounded off in the comments section of the Minneapolis newspaper. Many of the comments revealed the racism that divided this country in post-Obama America.

The reaction was so vociferous that the newspaper was forced to shut down the comments section.

“Looks like we had to turn comments off on story about Mall of America’s first black Santa. Merry Christmas everyone!” an editor wrote.

A report on a CBS Minnesota website that was inundated with racist and vile comments was also shut down.

This poor Santa, looks like he may be out of his seasonal gig.

Conversations Of A Sistah, M.L. King Holiday, Racially motivated, Racism in America, Tracy L. Bell - Blog Talk Radio

“Racism In America Today ~ As It Relates To Dr. M. L. King’s Vision on “Conversations Of A Sistah”

The ReadyWriter

MLKConversations Of A Sistah is back! And our topic of discussion is Racism in America!

Racism has fostered inequality and discrimination for centuries, as well as influencing how we relate to other human beings as a whole. Racial hatred and bigotry is also on the rise in this country at an all-time high. It’s like history is repeating itself with the massive killings of unarmed African-America men, women and children.

Since the rise in these killings around the country, the unrest has unveiled the “Black Lives Matter” organization. An International Activist Movement, originating in the African American Community that campaigns against violence geared toward people of color. This organization has in many ways adopted some of the same strategies as the Civil Rights Movement. The purpose of the movement was to make sure that all citizens, all races, all religious groups and all nationalities are treated equally under the law.

Join me tonight at 6:30 p.m. on “Conversations Of A Sistah” on Blog Talk Radio as we commemorate the birthday of the late Dr. Martin Luther King on the discussion of “Racism In America Today ~ As It Relates To Dr. Martin Luther King’s Vision.

screen_shot_2012-10-17_at_12_40_07_pmMy special guest on this topic is the Rev. Floyd Thompkins (pictured left), former pastor of Antioch Baptist Church in San Jose CA. One of the second oldest black churches west of the Mississippi River. As of today Rev. Thompkins is also the director of the Center for Innovation in Ministry at San Francisco Theological Seminary. 

All “Conversations links” in this post make it possible to access the show!

See you on the air!