Free Republic

LOS ANGELES - Alejandro "Bird" Martinez and a crew of fellow gangbangers were joyriding in a stolen van when they came upon a black man parking his car — and decided to kill him. Three of them riddled Kenneth Kurry Wilson and his Cadillac with bullets from a .357-caliber revolver and a 9 mm semiautomatic and blasts from a 12-gauge shotgun. This month, Martinez and three other members of the Avenues, a Hispanic gang entrenched in one Los Angeles neighborhood, were convicted of federal hate crimes usually tagged on white supremacists. Although the slaying was seven years ago, the verdict...

SHARPSBURG, Md. — A Ku Klux Klan group plans to hold a rally June 10 on the grounds of the Antietam National Battlefield, site of the bloodiest one-day clash of the Civil War, an organizer and a park official said...

A suspect is assaulted by a police officer after a car chase in Philadelphia on April 28, 2005. A local TV news helicopter crew videotaped the incident. Normally this is the type of thing becomes a mainstream media frenzy. Normally this is the lead report on every network national and local telecast. Rodney King was. So were the incidents in Inglewood and Cincinnati. This also proved true nearly five years ago, when a similar incident occurred just before the Republican convention in Philadelphia. This time there is no saturation coverage in the national media. Charles Baum, who is white and...

Dear Free Republicans, The following is an article that a friend of mine had sent to various people and copied me on it. He is French, a very pro-Europe and anti-Bush, which makes it refreshing to see my constant discussions and never-let-go attitude on Iranian affairs, does pay back every now and then. Best regards, Ardavan Bahrami CONFESSION OF A EUROPEAN Holland may be showing us what the future holds for the rest of Europe. Let's face it, the European society has never been so tolerant and so all-race embracing. And as if Western Europe wasn't bad enough, just look...

The Open Line and The NorthStar Network Launch Counter-Offensive The NorthStar Network joins our friends from ”The Open Line” on New York City’s 98.7 KISS-FM in asking our readers to call and write the management of the MSNBC cable network to lodge a complaint over right-wing talk show host Joe Scarborough’s attack on actor, human rights activist, and our brother, Danny Glover. Scarborough has used the airwaves to initiate a campaign to have MCI fire Glover as its spokesperson due to the actor’s position against the war in Iraq. This is just the latest use of the airwaves by conservatives...

guests: Clarence Page, Peggy Noonan, David Bloom (NBC) (no transcript but;)The concensus among Peggy, Clarence, Mathews was that Republicans were shamed by Lott's insensitivity. I didn't catch much from Bloom-- Mr. Inter-Continental, the TV face known for speaking a few lines of French. Contrary to the so-called 'stain', this group was impressed that the criticism largely came from within, signaling a change in the party. Also noting Bush's sincere anger, noting how the jovial birthday scene laughed at all the 'good ol' boy jokes', but went stone cold silent at Lott's racial undertones. ".really a new face on the party..."...

The bogus anti-Muslim hate-crime wave Posted: December 13, 2002 1:00 a.m. Eastern By Matt Kaufman © 2002 WorldNetDaily.com Did vengeful Americans unleash an orgy of anti-Muslim violence in the wake of 9-11? You'd think so to judge by the media coverage that followed the recent release of the FBI's 2001 hate-crimes report. Reality's another story. First, the media version. "According to the FBI, hate crimes in America targeting Muslims or people who just appear to be Middle Eastern surged in the aftermath of 9-11," Dan Rather announced grimly. "There were 500 such hate-motivated attacks reported last year; the year before,...

Cooling 2 schools may cost double Agreed-upon price stuns outside expert By Aimee Edmondson edmondson@gomemphis.com November 28, 2002 The kids at Whitney Elementary and Longview Middle need new air-conditioning - but taxpayers could get fleeced. No contract has been signed yet, but Memphis City Schools has agreed to pay millions more than necessary to replace heating and cooling in the two schools, according to external estimates. The overpayment has staggering implications for taxpayers: The two schools are first in a group of 26 waiting for new air-conditioning and heating. And now some school board members and staff are fighting over...

Wilbun asks churches' help, cites GOP 'evil plan' By Marc Perrusquia perrusquia@gomemphis.com July 10, 2002 Cloaking himself in racial imagery, Juvenile Court Clerk Shep Wilbun is launching an early-vote effort to counter what he calls an "evil" Republican plan to defeat him in the Aug. 1 election. "I have been attacked . . . (in) an all-out effort to stop the first African-American Juvenile Court Clerk from continuing to be there for the people," Wilbun said in a letter his campaign circulated Tuesday. "This evil plan will not succeed." The letter, dated July 1, asks ministers of predominantly black churches...

It might be easier if all racists were like Bobby Frank Cherry: easily identified, cartoon character good old boys. It might be simpler if all racism manifested itself in violent, clumsy ways. But like any virus, in order to survive, racism adapts to its conditions. These complex times call for a more subtle approach. Today, some racists wear suits and ties, run big bureaucracies or work in government and private corporations. Some are those who have declared racism dead, that the playing field has been leveled, and that affirmative action unnecessary and in itself racist. Today’s racists are those who...

NPR settles Rattley’s suit alleging racial discrimination Originally published in Current, April 22, 2002By Mike JanssenNPR settled a five-year-old racial discrimination and retaliation lawsuit last week in which former Vice President for Cultural Programming Sandra Rattley accused the network of demoting and firing her for her vocal advocacy of diversity in staff and programming.Neither Rattley nor NPR would discuss terms of the settlement, which came after a week of testimony in Washington, D.C. Superior Court.Rattley, who is black, claimed her demotion and firing came after NPR management branded her "not a team player" when she protested plans to lay off...