controversies
It seems every time one racially-charged incident ends, a gender or religious controversy takes its place; Ruminate on the issues dividing our nation and world.
The Red Summer - Charleston
The Red Summer -- Charleston The history of the United States has to be understood to begin to understand the racial problems experienced by Blacks in this country. Lynchings of Blacks and the governmental response to those lynchings play a huge role in the development of the United States. The response to those lynchings play an even larger role because it sets the stage to how law enforcement responds to crimes against Blacks by Whites, both civilian and law enforcement. Before we can understand why law enforcement polices the way they do, we have to understand how the United States has dealt with crimes against Blacks.
Glenda DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampNative American Indians
Hello, I am a Native American man that originally lived in Oklahoma. There are many different tribes that live here in the United States. I am apart of the Comanche tribe. My people are a dying race, our numbers are small and are steadily declining. Native Americans will be in the verge of extinction at some point in the near futur. You may think well we can just repopulate, but it’s harder than that. We are a race that is over looked and mistreated even to this day. We are profiled by many people that know we still exist. I had went to middle school in the country rural area of Oklahoma, and when I went to American history, they talked like the Native People have already died off. The reservations are no place for someone to live, but there are many native people that still live on them. The reservations aren’t owned my the tribe thst lives in it. The U.S government own it. The people on the reservations can’t change or plant anything because they don’t own it, there is no vegetation that grows on most reservations, just dirt and sand mostly. No businesses where people can work to try and make money to leave the reservation exists. When someone tries to leave the reservation for a vacation or to visit family they are immediately stopped by a cop that just basically lives outside of the Rez. There is so much suicid and alcoholism in the reservations because of the depressive state of mind they have to endure. Personally I have been to many reservations throughout the years and have been so shocked every time I drive through and visit one. Leaving a reservation almost every time I get stopped by a cop and then ask where I’m going and then saying “your not supposed to be leaving your home” . I am so disappointed in the United States for treating a group of people like this. We are basically segregated from the world and have no way of leaving a reservation to find a better life. I would go into statistics over the death Native Americans, but I won’t because you can look it up yourself. We are top rated in many things when it comes to death, even tho we are the smallest number of people. My people have been done wrong and I don’t think there is a way to help us now. I am so proud of my culture, but what is my culture going to do when there is no more of us. My people are calling for help and no one is listening. I have experienced racism my whole life, just because I’m Native American. Life is really hard for me even though I don’t live on the reservation, but I do want to make the reservations a better place to live so that there won’t be as much depression or alcoholism or suicide. I join the army and even hear everyone thinks that Native Americans of died out. Once the knowledge of native Americans have been put out there, Then I believe that our lives will be a little bit easier and people start seeing us again in big cities and it won’t be as rare for us to show up to events. Native Americans are so separate from each other that it’s hard to get them all to come together. Native Americans need help I need help. If my culture is gone I don’t know who would care. If my culture is gone I don’t know who would care, because there is no one to preserve it in the first place. Help us. We really need it.
SammoSun McNuggetPublished 4 years ago in The SwampEmpty Playground
Looking at the empty playground reminds me how much COVID- 19 has stolen from our Summer plans. For the most part, we have succeeded in living our best life despite the Coronavirus; however, there is no replacement for high school graduation and Senior prom and the pure enjoyment of children playing on the playground. We can try to re-create some of those moments at a later date, but that authentic feeling will not be there for those people who stay out all night cramming for a test at their universities Will never know the feeling of taking that stage aunt reaching out for their degrees and so forth. You Will never get these precious moments back; however, you are now free to create new memories and put your best face forward and have a positive effect on the world.
Yvonne KnightPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp- Top Story - July 2020
Washington Redskins rebranding brings racism against Native Americans to the forefront
About five or six years ago, I mentioned to a family member that the name Washington Redskins was racist. He said he never thought of it that way and from that point, I began feeling uneasy whenever I saw the logo. I later spoke with my husband about it and said African Americans and Caucasians would never accept a team named “black skins” or “white skins”. I thought of the song from Disney cartoon version of Peter Pan, “ What makes the red man red?”
Cheryl E PrestonPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp All Lives Matter
There was the loudest boom and the vibration of the entire floor , when the tree across from my house fell. The storm that caused this was minor compared to others and still the damage was laying in a pile the next morning. After inspection I see that the entire middle is rotten and that explained the easiness of which it came down. The age of the tree not known to me but I’m guessing that it’s about 50 years old and in this area seen more than its worth of crime. The fallen ones of this community are adding up daily. Murder and mischief is well known to this little neighborhood and I have only lived here for less than a year.
Chanelle LahrmannPublished 4 years ago in The SwampThe Red Summer - Carswell Grove
The Red Summer - Carswell Grove The 13th of April 2019, marked the 100th anniversary of the start of the Red Summer, a period of time when more than 30 cities burst into race riots. White communities attacked Black communities, sometimes with the assistance of police and/or the military. There was no media coverage of this tragic event. There was no acknowledgement this event ever happened. It passed with absolutely no acknowledgement from the media, politicians, or even most of the cities it occurred in, but I will make it a point to remind you of the horror that took place between April and November of 1919.
Glenda DavisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampBlack Lives Matter
Every day we see the same thing, police brutality. Black and brown brothers and sisters downtrodden in the streets because they dare exercise their constitutional right to assembly. Every day we see the same thing. My great-grandfather came from a country, not unlike this one. They were invaded by a populous leader who told his people that what he would do would help them would set their country back on track. What he didn’t tell them was the cost. When the headline read, “Hitler invades Poland,” the German people cheered, and the Polish wept.
Nikola Tobias HunterPublished 4 years ago in The SwampLiberate African Hair
2016 was the year Zulaikha Patel (A South African teenager ) took a stand against the discriminatory hair policies at Pretoria Girls High school. A 13 year old at the forefront of a protest, she most certainly discarded the narrative that labels young potentials as future leaders. Such a term is a contradiction to the resilience that characterises us. We are not future leaders. We are leaders. Being a leader is like being dead, you either are or you are not. Ageism is one battle we are yet to fight and overcome.
Shirley MakurumidzePublished 4 years ago in The SwampThe Speakeasy
Conservatives are the new counterculture. Or are we? Either way, I like it. Do you know what I love about us? Many things, but my absolute favorite is how we come out swinging when we’re backed into a corner. You can take comfort knowing that when your fundamental rights get trampled on ~ like freedom of speech ~ we’ll buck.
Miss CharlottePublished 4 years ago in The SwampPolitical Pandemics
Vast swathes of humans becoming infected by a micro-organism such as a virus is what we call “a pandemic”, and it is important to notice that it shares a very strong parallel with pandemics of a political nature, which are ideological movements or “Revolutions”, in a word.
James SiroisPublished 4 years ago in The SwampGhislaine Maxwell, Sarah Kellen, Madonna, and Rosie O'Donnell - This Picture is Worth About 1000 Words.
On a background of a red flag with yellow stars, Ghislaine Maxwell and Sarah Kellen are captured by photographer Patrick McMullen at an extremely exclusive event in New York. The photograph will be used again and again on articles all over the globe covering Jeffrey Epstein, Ghislaine Maxwell, and their gang of child trafficking pedophile helpers and enablers. But how much do you know about a photo that you’ve seen over and over? Let me provide you with a little context to understand what you are actually looking at.
Johnny VedmorePublished 4 years ago in The SwampThe New Civil Rights Era
In the immortal words of Dr.Martin Luther King, "Injustice anywhere is injustice everywhere." We live in a time, where police brutality is ever-present in our communities. Most people are wondering if they will ever feel safe in their community again and if their children will survive. We cannot demonized officers and we should advocate for their education because knowledge is power and accountability. However, the news shows a constant reminder that minorities are not entirely free when the enforcement of the law is unjust. When the people of the community cannot hold accountable fellow officers for unjust acts, this is a weakness in democracy. The point of a democracy is everybody contributed, everybody matters, and everybody has rights. We must work together or we will fail. Too many countless victims from incidents that required less force. What do we do in a crisis like this? Where do we turn in what seems like a race war? "Be the peace you want in the world," proclaimed Gandhi. The protest must be peaceful as activists must foster new legislation with those that hear the people's demands. We have to use the tools and foundations of the Civil Rights Era resisting weapons and rioting. If there's one thing that prevents justice then it is rioting because it causes a force against bringing peace, we must understand and fix the justice system. We have to denounce racial profiling. We cannot judge someone based on the color of their skin and what others did who are apart of that race. If we are to win this new Civil Rights then we must fight all "ism" dividing us. We must stand up for the poor who doesn't have housing and healthcare. We must stand up for women, who received their rights a hundred years before and now maybe force to have children without consent. We must fight for all to choose who they love and to be what they desire to be because it is every one of our birthrights. We can make it possible to live in a world, where we will be fully and duly protected from hate. Hate should never be lifted, never given a place in society otherwise it will evoke chaos. For decades, oppression has been instilled into our communities and now it must be confronted by justice. You can break the chains of bondage,you can tell someone they are free, and you can proclaimed liberty but if their minds are bound and they are given no tools of that liberty then they are bound and not free. It is time that we free everybody living in peace with one another. Love is the greatest weapon for peace and proof of that love is hope in each other that this nation can be a better place. All this plays into the bigger picture, a better democracy, and hope for the future. We must show the children how to survive, not teaching them ignorance and blind obedience but civility and nobleness. In the fulfillment of Dr.King's dream, we must take the evil in this world which robs us of life and turn it into good that gives everlasting peace. One day police officers will be looked again as heroes and heroines. One day all children will be allowed to live freely and equally. One day people will remember to love always and never hate but it's going to take all of us to win this fight, every last ounce of strength and we shall overcome.
Matthew PrimousPublished 4 years ago in The Swamp