What I’m Reading – August 13, 2017
Written by Ashley Kelmore, Posted in What I'm Reading
White Supremacist Violence
“The city of Charlottesville was engulfed by violence on Saturday as white nationalists and counterprotesters clashed in one of the bloodiest fights to date over the removal of Confederate monuments across the South. White nationalists had long planned a demonstration over the city’s decision to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee. But the rally quickly exploded into racial taunting, shoving and outright brawling, prompting the governor to declare a state of emergency and the National Guard to join the police in clearing the area.” Man Charged After White Nationalist Rally in Charlottesville Ends in Deadly Violence (by Sheryl Gay Stolberg and Brian M. Rosenthal for New York Times)
“Standing nearby, an assortment of Virginia State Police troopers and Charlottesville police wearing protective gear watched silently from behind an array of metal barricades — and did nothing. It was a scene that played out over and over in Charlottesville as law enforcement confronted the largest public gathering of white supremacists in decades. We walked the streets beginning in the early morning hours and repeatedly witnessed instances in which authorities took a largely laissez faire approach, allowing white supremacists and counter-protesters to physically battle.” Police Stood By As Mayhem Mounted in Charlottesville (by A.C. Thompson and Robert Faturechi for ProPublica)
“The US President has refused to condemn the actions of the neo-Nazis, skinheads, and members of the Ku Klux Klan who descended on the Virginia city on Saturday yelling racial abuse, brandishing flaming torches, carrying assault rifles and wearing paramilitary clothing. Speaking from a stage in a golf clubhouse, President Trump decried “violence on all sides” rather than explicitly taking aim at far-right extremists.” Neo-Nazis and White Supremacists applaud Donald Trump’s response to deadly violence in Virginia (by Maya Oppenheim for The Independent)
“Heather Heyer’s mother, Susan Bro, told HuffPost that her daughter attended Saturday’s rally because she “was about bringing an end to injustice.” “Heather was not about hate, Heather was about stopping hatred,” Bro said through tears. “Heather was about bringing an end to injustice. I don’t want her death to be a focus for more hatred, I want her death to be a rallying cry for justice and equality and fairness and compassion.”” Heather Heyer ‘Murdered While Protesting Against Hate’ In Charlottesville, Friends Say (by Dominique Mosbergen , Andy Campbell for Huffpost)
Horrific Executive, Legislative, and Judicial Actions
“The Indiana chapter of the NAACP is suing state election officials to block a new law that would shutter hundreds of polling locations in a county with a large number of African American and Hispanic voters. The lawsuit, filed in federal court Wednesday, alleges that the law specifically targets a particular region of the state with a large minority, poor, and elderly population, impeding the ability of those voters to cast a ballot.” Indiana Is Making It Harder for Minorities to Vote, Lawsuit Alleges (by Pema Levy for Mother Jones)
Misogyny
“The manifesto expresses thoughts, beliefs and attitudes that are common to its author, Lépine, Rodger, and the domestic abusers Bancroft describes. It is written from a place of entitlement: like Lépine and Rodger but unlike some of the domestic abusers, the entitlement is not to just one specific woman’s attention and service, but rather, to special privileges as white men and to submission and deference from all women, and all people of color, and everybody else occupying a lower position in the social hierarchy. Like Lépine, he’s concerned that they’re taking our jobs.” Refusing to Empathize with Elliot Rodger: Taking Male Entitlement Seriously (by Tim Chevalier)
Sports
“Through it all Colin Kaepernick has remained silent. In his silence he has raised yet another mirror to reveal another ugly truth about another American institution. What’s left reflected is that Colin Kaepernick isn’t being blackballed because he knelt for the national anthem, he’s being blackballed because the NFL has (for decades) persuaded its patrons that what he is doesn’t exist: a three-dimensional, wholly human Black athlete.” Colin Kaepernick Isn’t Being Blackballed Because He Knelt for the Anthem (by André Carlisle)
“For many years, athletes have constantly been given additional chances because they are athletes. What does this say about rape culture? That athletes can do no wrong, that they can get away with anything because of how they perform on the field or in the gym?” the petition says. “Does he deserve a second chance? Yes, he does, and he is receiving that second chance by furthering his education on YSU’s campus. Does he deserve the privilege of playing on a football team and representing a university? Absolutely not. Education is a right, whereas playing on a sports team is not.” Athlete With a Past (by Scott Jaschik for Inside Higher Ed)
Criminal Punishment System
“Remote video calls will also be possible. Like phone calls from the jail, the visitors will be charged for video calls. Correctional officials said the fees have yet to be determined. The house of corrections is the first in the state to opt for video over in-person visits.” Massachusetts jail ending in-person visits, to only allow video calls (by Michelle Williams for Mass Live)
Xenophobia
“A quick look through PDC filings revealed that the biggest funders of Respect Washington, the group behind the repeal petition, is US Inc., an organization founded by John Tanton. Tanton—dubbed the “racist architect of the modern anti-immigration movement” by the Southern Poverty Law Center—and his organizations have been funding anti-immigrant activism and publishing white nationalist and white supremacist literature for decades.” Meet the Michigan-Based Anti-Immigrant Group Backing Burien’s Sanctuary City Repeal (by Sydney Brownstone for The Stranger)
Sexual Predators
“The fact remains that Allen is still a celebrated artist. His films appear at major festivals and are showered with awards, so if you’re an actor who wants those accolades, you’ll jump at the chance to work for him. You will even find an easy way to explain your reason for doing so.” Why Do Young Stars Like Selena Gomez Work With Woody Allen? (by Ira Madison III for The Daily Beast)
Health
“But it quickly became clear that “clean eating” was more than a diet; it was a belief system, which propagated the idea that the way most people eat is not simply fattening, but impure. Seemingly out of nowhere, a whole universe of coconut oil, dubious promises and spiralised courgettes has emerged. Back in the distant mists of 2009, James Duigan, owner of The Bodyism gym in London and sometime personal trainer to the model Elle MacPherson, published his first Clean and Lean book. As an early adopter of #eatclean, Duigan notes that he “battled” with his publisher “to include ingredients like kale and quinoa, because no one had ever heard of them”. Now quinoa is in every supermarket and kale has become as normal as lettuce. “I long for the days when clean eating meant not getting too much down your front,” the novelist Susie Boyt joked recently.” Why we fell for clean eating (by Bee Wilson for The Guardian)