The expressed opinions or views of this letter does not necessarily represent the opinion of the MiddletownMike blog:
Dear Editor,
Now retired SPCA Police Chief Buddy Amato exercised extremely poor judgment by sharing some offensive jokes at work, that have resulted in a lawsuit and his resignation.
Sue DesMarais did the right thing by standing up to racist, anti-Semitic and homophobic jokes in the workplace. Such conduct is not acceptable and can be hurtful to many.
But I also believe Buddy Amato deserves the opportunity to become more educated on diversity issues and be rehabilitated, so his legacy can be remembered for all the good things he did.
His past volunteer work with the NAACP and other good deeds show that while he made mistakes and should be held accountable for his actions, he's not a lost cause.
I hope that the NAACP and Garden State Equality offer him counseling and give him the chance to do advocacy work on behalf of racial and religious minorities, as well as LGBT people, in order to demonstrate his character and redeem himself.
Eric Hafner
Toms River
Showing posts with label NAACP. Show all posts
Showing posts with label NAACP. Show all posts
Thursday, March 19, 2015
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Joe Caliendo passes, marks end of an era
Cross posted with permission from thePurcellChronicles:
Former Middletown Democratic Chairman Joe Caliendo died this morning. There is so much to say about Joe one scarcely knows where to start.
He was a family man first, the husband of Pat. He was a father and grandfather, above everything. It is the thing he worked hardest at in life: his family. He was a good man, a good union man, and Joe was not afraid of hard work. A look at his hands would tell the story if you ever glanced at them.
I met Joe because of politics. We worked together very closely during the early 2000s to help Democrats win local offices in Middletown Township, the home he loved so dearly, and in the Bayshore Area, as a whole. I knew him well in this way and that is the Joe I can speak about with authority.
Politics is an ugly game. It is filled with people, be they Republican or Democrat, who are no better than snakes. Working with politicians to achieve community goals is as easy as working in a tiger cage with a half dozen different, untamed big cats. But, Joe knew his way around that cage very well: He was intuitive, intelligent, quick, focused and utterly dedicated to the proposition that the 'every-man' and woman deserved things in this life, and not just the rich and so-called elite. Above all else, he believed in the rights of men and women to be able to earn their daily bread for themselves and their families, and that is no little thing in this world.
I have seen people try and bribe Joe Caliendo, and he laughed it off on both occasions and gave them a good piece of his mind. He liked to laugh. But, Joe was also one of the bravest souls I have encountered.
I have seen him threatened by the highest state offices of evil men and women, mostly Republicans, who tried to coerce Joe to stop his work getting Democrats elected in town and in the county. You had a better chance of getting a wolverine to back-up. I cannot count how many times I heard that man bark into the face of someone who thought they could push him around: "What the hell are you going to do to me? I don't have all that much time on this earth -- and sure as hell don't give a damn about what you say or do."
Not everyone is brave. People like to think they are, but mostly they aren't. Joe was brave.
 |
| Joe Caliendo (L) with former Matawan Councilman Bud Mullaney |
Joe was also tireless. He'd put up signs with fellow Democrats in any weather, deep into the night and early morning if he had to, risking sickness or anything he had to in order to come a step closer to victory. Meanwhile, no Middletown Democratic chairman has ever known as much local victory in the township, which is far and away a Republican-voting community. Yet, with Joe Caliendo at the helm of the township party, victory was always possible, sometimes even likely despite the sheer number of factors set against him and the Middletown Dems.
Joe was a lifelong Democrat and had been in leadership in the 1960s, 70s and 2000s. I believe that simple facts attests to his convictions.
Joe was a skilled politician and party boss. He did not care about frivolity. He became involved with things he believed were right and did not care about what anyone thought. He supported the NAACP openly in a time when race hatred was very alive in Middletown. And, he was recognized by area and state NAACP leaders for his wisdom and hard work. Joe fought for union rights like a lion at every turn, and supported the working person without apology over the moneyed interests of glad-handing politicians who smiled to peoples' faced and stabbed them in the back quietly in the back rooms. Joe Caliendo spoke truth to power and there are very few human beings in this world that would actually do that.
Joe was my friend. At times in my life I was distraught, he was there without judgment or self-righteousness. I know he would not mind me throwing in there that he was also a heck of a ballplayer, who almost made the old Brooklyn Dodgers before they moved to sunny California. But, he played ball like he played life -- as hard as he could and straight on. No mental errors. If you were going to beat Joe at anything you were going to have to do it, because he wasn't going to be asleep at the switch or make mental errors. He was as sharp as an eagle.
Joe lived and worked through all kinds of physical pain from many injuries -- but to see him you'd never know it by his face. He could handle a lot of pain and make it look easier than anyone I have known.
Joe even converted me to being a Democrat from being an avowed Republican. He was persuasive and there was power behind his words, because he was a man of action. If he said something you could believe he meant it and was going to do something about it.
I have known many people in my life and covered many areas of the human condition as a journalist of many years, and believe me when I say few people are exceptional. I do not care how much money or celebrity they have, whether they are beautiful or athletic, elected or appointed, rich or poor -- the vast majority of people in this world are sheep. Every now and again, a true leader, a shepherd, comes along. Joe was one of those.
Joe was not a spiritual man. He did not do right over wrong because he thought there was any reward for it in an afterlife. He just did what was right because it was right. And, if for no more than that, the God of my understanding will welcome him to his house, where he is already.
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
New Jersey Failing to Offer Voter Registration to Low-Income Residents
Dēmos
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2013
National Voting Rights Groups Put Lt. Gov. Guadagno and DHS on Notice for Violations of Federal Law
TRENTON, NJ - October 1 - Citing clear evidence that numerous low-income New Jersey residents have been denied the opportunity to register to vote, attorneys from Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic, Project Vote, Demos, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the NAACP have issued official notice to Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, as well as the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS), that the state is not in compliance with the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
The notification letter, sent today on behalf of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, calls on Guadagno and DHS to take corrective action necessary to bring New Jersey into compliance with the NVRA by offering voter registration opportunities at public assistance agencies or to face possible litigation.
Commonly known as the “Motor Voter” law, the NVRA requires motor vehicle agencies, as well as public assistance agencies that provide services such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and other benefits, to proactively offer voter registration services to their clients. Since the implementation of the NVRA, an estimated 141 million Americans have applied to get on the voter rolls through the registration services the NVRA requires at motor vehicle agencies, disability offices, and public assistance agencies.
The notice letter cites evidence that public assistance agencies in New Jersey are neglecting to consistently offer voter registration services to their clients, and are therefore failing to carry out their responsibilities under the NVRA. As discussed in the notice letter, there has been a significant decline in the number of voter registration applications from New Jersey public assistance agencies since 1995, despite a sharp increase in the number of persons seeking public assistance. Investigations at county welfare agencies also showed a lack of compliance with the law. Discussions with both clients and agency staff confirmed that voter registration services were not consistently offered as required by the NVRA.
“Public assistance agencies are a vital component of the voter registration system because they connect with Americans, including low-income individuals and persons with disabilities, who are less likely to register through other means,” said Sarah Brannon, director of the Public Agency Registration Program at Project Vote.
Frank Askin of the Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic says, “We have been trying since 2010 to bring New Jersey into compliance with the law. The Division of Human Services initially acknowledged the problem and announced an Implementation Plan to correct it. But, unfortunately, that plan was never carried out.”
“The NVRA tasks all states, including New Jersey, with promoting and protecting one of the most fundamental freedoms of our democracy,” said Dave Rubino, Counsel at Demos. “Voting is the means by which Americans, regardless of class or race, control their lives and their futures. Right now, New Jersey is falling short on this task.”
“Our work to ensure that states offer voter registration at public assistance agencies as required by the NVRA helps to guarantee that convenient voter registration opportunities are accessible to all eligible citizens,” said Robert Kengle, co-director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee.
“Due to New Jersey’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the NVRA, the indigent are less likely to register to vote,” said James Harris, president of the New Jersey State Conference of NAACP. “True democracy requires the participation of all citizens regardless of race or income. It is unfortunate and unacceptable for elected officials to disregard laws and allow policies that diminish opportunities for minority and poor citizens to exercise the basic right to vote. The State Conference is committed to doing everything possible to educate, organize, and mobilize all citizens who are eligible to vote.”
In the past several years, lawsuits filed by voting rights groups have forced other states neglecting the NVRA into compliance with dramatic results. For example, Missouri public assistance agencies received more than 500,000 applications in the four years following a successful court action to improve compliance in that state. Prior to a 2008 court order, the state had averaged fewer than 8,000 per year. And, after a similar case was settled in Ohio in 2009, voter registration applications from public assistance agencies in the state increased from an average of 25,000 applications per year to more than 200,000 per year.
The voting rights groups urge the state to take immediate action to bring New Jersey into compliance with the NVRA, and offer to work cooperatively with DHS to develop a plan to do so.
###
A multi-issue national organization, Demos combines research, policy development, and advocacy to influence public debates and catalyze change. We publish books, reports, and briefing papers that illuminate critical problems and advance innovative solutions; work at both the national and state level with advocates and policymakers to promote reforms; help to build the capacity and skills of key progressive constituencies; project our values into the media by promoting Demos Fellows and staff in print, broadcast, and Internet venues; and host public events that showcase new ideas and leading progressive voices.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2013
National Voting Rights Groups Put Lt. Gov. Guadagno and DHS on Notice for Violations of Federal Law
TRENTON, NJ - October 1 - Citing clear evidence that numerous low-income New Jersey residents have been denied the opportunity to register to vote, attorneys from Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic, Project Vote, Demos, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the NAACP have issued official notice to Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, as well as the state’s Department of Human Services (DHS), that the state is not in compliance with the requirements of the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 (NVRA).
The notification letter, sent today on behalf of the New Jersey State Conference of the NAACP, calls on Guadagno and DHS to take corrective action necessary to bring New Jersey into compliance with the NVRA by offering voter registration opportunities at public assistance agencies or to face possible litigation.
Commonly known as the “Motor Voter” law, the NVRA requires motor vehicle agencies, as well as public assistance agencies that provide services such as Medicaid, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), and other benefits, to proactively offer voter registration services to their clients. Since the implementation of the NVRA, an estimated 141 million Americans have applied to get on the voter rolls through the registration services the NVRA requires at motor vehicle agencies, disability offices, and public assistance agencies.
The notice letter cites evidence that public assistance agencies in New Jersey are neglecting to consistently offer voter registration services to their clients, and are therefore failing to carry out their responsibilities under the NVRA. As discussed in the notice letter, there has been a significant decline in the number of voter registration applications from New Jersey public assistance agencies since 1995, despite a sharp increase in the number of persons seeking public assistance. Investigations at county welfare agencies also showed a lack of compliance with the law. Discussions with both clients and agency staff confirmed that voter registration services were not consistently offered as required by the NVRA.
“Public assistance agencies are a vital component of the voter registration system because they connect with Americans, including low-income individuals and persons with disabilities, who are less likely to register through other means,” said Sarah Brannon, director of the Public Agency Registration Program at Project Vote.
Frank Askin of the Rutgers Constitutional Law Clinic says, “We have been trying since 2010 to bring New Jersey into compliance with the law. The Division of Human Services initially acknowledged the problem and announced an Implementation Plan to correct it. But, unfortunately, that plan was never carried out.”
“The NVRA tasks all states, including New Jersey, with promoting and protecting one of the most fundamental freedoms of our democracy,” said Dave Rubino, Counsel at Demos. “Voting is the means by which Americans, regardless of class or race, control their lives and their futures. Right now, New Jersey is falling short on this task.”
“Our work to ensure that states offer voter registration at public assistance agencies as required by the NVRA helps to guarantee that convenient voter registration opportunities are accessible to all eligible citizens,” said Robert Kengle, co-director of the Voting Rights Project at the Lawyers’ Committee.
“Due to New Jersey’s failure to fulfill its obligations under the NVRA, the indigent are less likely to register to vote,” said James Harris, president of the New Jersey State Conference of NAACP. “True democracy requires the participation of all citizens regardless of race or income. It is unfortunate and unacceptable for elected officials to disregard laws and allow policies that diminish opportunities for minority and poor citizens to exercise the basic right to vote. The State Conference is committed to doing everything possible to educate, organize, and mobilize all citizens who are eligible to vote.”
In the past several years, lawsuits filed by voting rights groups have forced other states neglecting the NVRA into compliance with dramatic results. For example, Missouri public assistance agencies received more than 500,000 applications in the four years following a successful court action to improve compliance in that state. Prior to a 2008 court order, the state had averaged fewer than 8,000 per year. And, after a similar case was settled in Ohio in 2009, voter registration applications from public assistance agencies in the state increased from an average of 25,000 applications per year to more than 200,000 per year.
The voting rights groups urge the state to take immediate action to bring New Jersey into compliance with the NVRA, and offer to work cooperatively with DHS to develop a plan to do so.
###
A multi-issue national organization, Demos combines research, policy development, and advocacy to influence public debates and catalyze change. We publish books, reports, and briefing papers that illuminate critical problems and advance innovative solutions; work at both the national and state level with advocates and policymakers to promote reforms; help to build the capacity and skills of key progressive constituencies; project our values into the media by promoting Demos Fellows and staff in print, broadcast, and Internet venues; and host public events that showcase new ideas and leading progressive voices.
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Christie Blasts Democrats For Taking Inner City Votes For Granted, Yet 13 days Later, He Still Hasn't Read the Supreme Court's Decision on the Voting Rights Act
Josh Levitt
Buono for Governor
Thirteen days after the Supreme Court overturned a key section of the Voting Rights Act, Governor Christie still has not offered his opinion on the decision nor has he bothered to even read it. While the Governor claims that the Democratic Party takes inner city voters for granted, his refusal to take a stand against the Supreme Court's decision showcases his true colors. At a time when voting rights are under attack, Governor Christie has a responsibility to speak up for what's right instead of playing political games and remaining silent.
From Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman, NAACP National Board of Directors: “This decision has the potential to set voting rights back more than fifty years.”
NJSCNAACP President James Harris: “It is disappointing that the US Supreme Court has invalidated one of the most powerful weapons that was used to insure the right to vote without intimidation and voter suppression.”
Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP: “This decision is outrageous. The Court’s majority put politics over decades of precedent and the rights of voters.”
Richard Cohen, Southern Poverty Law Center: "In its decision to gut key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, the court brushed aside the considered judgment of a nearly unanimous Congress and opened the door to new forms of discrimination against minority voters."
Mark Morial, National Urban League: "... Let's be clear. This is undoubtedly a bad decision. The Voting Rights Act was necessary in 1965 and remains so in 2013.”
Rep. John Lewis: "Today, the Supreme Court stuck a dagger into the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most effective pieces of legislation Congress has passed in the last 50 years."
Buono for Governor
Thirteen days after the Supreme Court overturned a key section of the Voting Rights Act, Governor Christie still has not offered his opinion on the decision nor has he bothered to even read it. While the Governor claims that the Democratic Party takes inner city voters for granted, his refusal to take a stand against the Supreme Court's decision showcases his true colors. At a time when voting rights are under attack, Governor Christie has a responsibility to speak up for what's right instead of playing political games and remaining silent.
From Roslyn M. Brock, Chairman, NAACP National Board of Directors: “This decision has the potential to set voting rights back more than fifty years.”
NJSCNAACP President James Harris: “It is disappointing that the US Supreme Court has invalidated one of the most powerful weapons that was used to insure the right to vote without intimidation and voter suppression.”
Benjamin Todd Jealous, President and CEO, NAACP: “This decision is outrageous. The Court’s majority put politics over decades of precedent and the rights of voters.”
Richard Cohen, Southern Poverty Law Center: "In its decision to gut key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, the court brushed aside the considered judgment of a nearly unanimous Congress and opened the door to new forms of discrimination against minority voters."
Mark Morial, National Urban League: "... Let's be clear. This is undoubtedly a bad decision. The Voting Rights Act was necessary in 1965 and remains so in 2013.”
Rep. John Lewis: "Today, the Supreme Court stuck a dagger into the heart of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, one of the most effective pieces of legislation Congress has passed in the last 50 years."
Sunday, October 16, 2011
MoreMonmouthMusings's Art Gallagher Arrest; Awaiting Extradition To Delaware On Fraud Charges
According to an online article posted on The Asbury Park Press this evening, Art Gallagher, author of the moremonmouthmusings blog, has been arrest on fraud charges and is being held on $250,000 bail while waiting on extradition to Delaware, at the Monmouth County Jail.
From the APP:
HIGHLANDS — A prominent blogger who is running for a seat on the Highlands Borough Council next month is in Monmouth County Jail awaiting extradition to Delaware, police said.
Art Gallagher, who runs a Republican-leaning political blog and is campaigning as an independent for council, was arrested over the weekend by borough police on a fugitive from justice warrant out of Delaware, Chief Joseph Blewitt said.
Details of Gallagher’s alleged crime across state lines are unclear, but Blewitt said the warrant was theft-related. Detective Nicholas Terranova, the lead investigator in the case for Delaware State Police, could not be reached for comment Sunday.
“That’s what it’s stemming from. It’s regarding a fraud investigation Delaware State Police conducted,” Highlands police Sgt. Joe Rogers said.
Gallagher, 53, who is also a member of the borough’s planning board, is being held on $250,000 bail. Blewitt said on Sunday afternoon “they have informed us they will extradite.”
I don't want to kick a guy while he's down but sooner or later everyone needs to answer to a higher authority for what they may have reaped in life. I hope that he and his family will able to cope well during this trying time.
Something like this however was bound to happen sooner or later to Art. I heard rumors last year that Art was going to be the subject of a WPIX News segment of "Help Me Howard ".
For those unfamiliar with "Help Me Howard", it's a segment on channel 11 news that features longtime newsman Howard Thompson. Thompson helps those who feel they have suffered injustices or have been wronged in someway.
In a segment that was to feature Art Gallagher but never aired because the incident was allegedly settled before airing, Art was accused by someone who had rented a food vending truck from his business. I don't remember all the details but the person who rented the truck was upset that the truck didn't work properly and wanted a refund of some kind. Art of course wouldn't oblige so the individual contacted Howard Thompson.
Also, Art has fancied himself a "King Maker" of sorts ever since he started MoreMonmouthMusings, blogging first anonymously as William Seward, then as himself, after he and others managed to air all sorts of Republican dirty laundry and the "take down" of Monmouth County Chairman Adam Puharic back in 2008 when he resigned from the position and opened the door for current Chairman Joe Oxley.
Art has since often warned Republican wannabes that if they want to get elected to office in Monmouth County or locally that they need to indulge his blogging and submit comments or columns to it.
Art also got himself in a bit of hot water back in 2008 when he tried to rationalize the use of the "N" word after the Reverend Jesse Jackson was caught on an open mike threatening to cut of then presidential candidate Barack Obama's "N"nuts. Art wanted to know why it was okay for Jesse Jackson, a black man, to use the "N" word but it was unacceptable for a white man to use the term.
After posting this on his blog, then Middletown Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger, called a special emergency session of the Middletown Human Rights Commission to look into it thinking that his blog posting was actually printed in the Bayshore Courier where Art had at the time wrote a weekly column.
This lead to Art being censored by the local chapter of the NAACP and his column being dropped by the Courier. Afterwards Gallagher started a vendetta against the Middletown Democrats and the Courier's publisher, blaming them for somehow conspiring against him and having him labeled as a racist.
Since then, Gallagher's blog has become a the Middletown Republican's dumping ground for the dirty tricks, mudslinging and slander against Democratic candidates running for office in Middletown.
What will the Middletown Republicans do now? Will they come out and disavow Art Gallagher or will they make excuses for him and their actions.
As I said above, it is easy to kick a guy while he is down. Regardless of Art's alleged actions in this case or in the past, I do wish him and his family well. We have had a slight adversarial relationship over the past few years but I think we have always been respectful to one another.
I may not always agree with Art or his point of view but that doesn't mean I wish him any ill will. I wish him a speedy resolve to his problems and a return to his blogging.
Saturday, June 11, 2011
Policer Officer Files Bias Complaint Against MiddletownChief and Range Master
This past Tuesday, June 7th, word started spreading that Middletown Policer Officer Darrin Simon, an African-American, had filed in state Superior Court last month against Middletown, Middletown Police Chief Robert Oches and range master James Griffin, a law suit claiming racial bias.
The law suit claims that over a period of time Officer Simon had been on the receiving end of various racial slurs and being called “boy” and “coon” by range master Griffin and that Chief Oches may have attempted to to cover the incidents up.
Both the Asbury Park Press and Red Bank Green both have stories online about the filed complaint and should be read for more details.
The law suit claims that over a period of time Officer Simon had been on the receiving end of various racial slurs and being called “boy” and “coon” by range master Griffin and that Chief Oches may have attempted to to cover the incidents up.
Both the Asbury Park Press and Red Bank Green both have stories online about the filed complaint and should be read for more details.
What the two articles have failed to mention however and was not generally known at the moment, but has come to my attention since, is that another law suit related to this case has been filed on the behalf of Officer Simon by the Greater Long Branch chapter of the NAACP.
More later....
Thursday, February 12, 2009
NAACP: We Are 100
By NAACP President and CEO Benjamin T. Jealous
February 12, 2009
One hundred years ago, a small multiracial group of progressive thinkers dared to come together in a tiny New York apartment to share a bold dream: An America free of the racial oppression that sullied the soul of our nation a little over 40 years after slavery. The NAACP was born of that noble vision advanced by such visionary thinkers as Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington and W.E.B. Dubois. The new organization, radical for its time, launched a tenacious three decade long struggle to successfully end the horror of lynch mobs. In 1932, we took up the mantle to reverse the destructive, segregating vestiges of Jim Crow, and two decades later, segregation was made illegal. In the 1960’s, a determined effort for economic and political inclusion was initiated that triumphed last year in the election of an African-American president and the most black elected officials since Reconstruction.
The election of President Barack Obama reflects a seminal transformation within the American psyche. Overcoming the limitations of our history fraught with the wrenching divisions of race, a majority of voters embraced our country’s promise - crossing racial, cultural and generational boundaries to set a remarkable example for the world. Yet there is a dichotomy between the symbol of hope and racial progress of Obama’s election and the entrenched realties of our painful racial legacy. While the country has allowed individuals to permeate the barriers of discrimination, entire groups of people still are locked out of the American dream because of race.
The NAACP has always embraced the impossible, fearlessly marching forward at an unwavering pace. Our triumphs have not been ours alone. Ending lynch mobs against African Americans ended the horror for White Catholics, the second largest group of victims. Our fight against discrimination helped all disenfranchised members of our country open locked doors and break through barriers of inequity.
But the journey is not over. Black unemployment is perennially twice that of white Americans. Several studies found that a majority of employers preferred to hire a white criminal than a black man without a criminal record. African American children disproportionately attend segregated, poor quality schools. Mass incarceration is harming far too many people of color when drug treatment and other approaches would have better outcomes. The health disparities in our communities are well-known.
Now as we face our second centennial, we can begin to see the realization of the vision of a new land where all live in safe communities and law enforcement respects and protects our neighborhoods. A land where all children can blossom in a quality school; their potential nurtured and cherished. Where every worker in America has a fair chance for employment, education and advancement. The journey is born anew this year and just as in the past we had the courage to pursue the impossible dream that doubters insisted was illusory , today we will begin again to be fearless as we resolutely move towards a better tomorrow for us all.
One hundred years ago, a small multiracial group of progressive thinkers dared to come together in a tiny New York apartment to share a bold dream: An America free of the racial oppression that sullied the soul of our nation a little over 40 years after slavery. The NAACP was born of that noble vision advanced by such visionary thinkers as Ida B. Wells, Mary White Ovington and W.E.B. Dubois. The new organization, radical for its time, launched a tenacious three decade long struggle to successfully end the horror of lynch mobs. In 1932, we took up the mantle to reverse the destructive, segregating vestiges of Jim Crow, and two decades later, segregation was made illegal. In the 1960’s, a determined effort for economic and political inclusion was initiated that triumphed last year in the election of an African-American president and the most black elected officials since Reconstruction.
The election of President Barack Obama reflects a seminal transformation within the American psyche. Overcoming the limitations of our history fraught with the wrenching divisions of race, a majority of voters embraced our country’s promise - crossing racial, cultural and generational boundaries to set a remarkable example for the world. Yet there is a dichotomy between the symbol of hope and racial progress of Obama’s election and the entrenched realties of our painful racial legacy. While the country has allowed individuals to permeate the barriers of discrimination, entire groups of people still are locked out of the American dream because of race.
The NAACP has always embraced the impossible, fearlessly marching forward at an unwavering pace. Our triumphs have not been ours alone. Ending lynch mobs against African Americans ended the horror for White Catholics, the second largest group of victims. Our fight against discrimination helped all disenfranchised members of our country open locked doors and break through barriers of inequity.
But the journey is not over. Black unemployment is perennially twice that of white Americans. Several studies found that a majority of employers preferred to hire a white criminal than a black man without a criminal record. African American children disproportionately attend segregated, poor quality schools. Mass incarceration is harming far too many people of color when drug treatment and other approaches would have better outcomes. The health disparities in our communities are well-known.
Now as we face our second centennial, we can begin to see the realization of the vision of a new land where all live in safe communities and law enforcement respects and protects our neighborhoods. A land where all children can blossom in a quality school; their potential nurtured and cherished. Where every worker in America has a fair chance for employment, education and advancement. The journey is born anew this year and just as in the past we had the courage to pursue the impossible dream that doubters insisted was illusory , today we will begin again to be fearless as we resolutely move towards a better tomorrow for us all.
Friday, August 1, 2008
Middletown's Mayor calls for Human Rights Commission to meet about "N" word controversy
Middletown's Mayor Gerry Scharfenberger asked the Middletown Human Rights Commission to hold a special meeting last night to discuss the controversy surrounding Art Gallagher and his blog, MoreMonmouthMusings's sloppy attempt at race relations.
I arrived at Town Hall late and unfortunately had to leave early due to family concerns, but I that the Human Rights Commission was shocked and appalled at what it heard from the meeting attendees.
In attendance was Lorenzo "Bill" Dangler, President of Long Branch chapter of the NAACP, who wanted to make it clear that under no circumstances what so ever would it be appropriate to say the "N" word and that Gallagher's words were offensive and hurtful.
From what I understand the Commission will make a report condemning Art Gallagher and his blog for his ill conceived attempt to address the use of the "N" word and race relations. The Commission will then present a recommendation to the Mayor which would ask him to denounce Art and his MoreMonmouthMusings blog.
The meeting was also covered by the Courier's Melissa Gaffney so I am sure that you will be able get a better idea of what exactly happened at the meeting by reading about it in the Courier or by reading her SableMinded blog shortly.
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