Racism Is Contagious

I share a deeply disturbing case I read today, authored by the California supreme court in 1854.

As was common before 1866 (post-Civil war civil rights laws), slaves and free blacks could not give testimony in court against white people.

In People v. Hall (1854), testimony from three Chinese immigrants was used to convict George Hall of murder.

The legal issue was whether the state’s bar against testimony from blacks applied to Chinese. The trial court reasoned that Chinese are not black, so their testimony could not be barred.

But in a stunningly racist opinion—and there can be no other way to put it— the state supreme court held that the words Indian, Negro, Black and White are generic terms designating race. Thus, Chinese and all other people not white, were included in the prohibition from being witnesses against whites.

The court said:

The anomalous spectacle of a distinct people (Chinese immigrants), living in our community, recognizing no laws of this State except through necessity, bringing with them their prejudices and national feuds, in which they indulge in open violation of law; whose mendacity (untruthfulness) is proverbial; a race of people whom nature has marked as inferior, and who are incapable of progress or intellectual development beyond a certain point, as their history has shown; differing in language, opinions, color, and physical conformation; between whom and ourselves nature has placed an impassable difference, is now presented, and for them is claimed, not only the right to swear away the life of a citizen, but the further privilege of participating with us in administering the affairs of our Government.

The bottom line is that this court reasoned that all people of color are morally and intellectually inferior to whites.

When our society tolerates racism against one group, it doesn’t usually doesn’t stop there.

Here’s hoping you make your own connections between this 1854 case and today! 

Thank You, Sean Spicer, for “Holocaust Centers”

Like many Americans, I loathe Sean Spicer. He lies, obfuscates, and often berates reporters who ask fair but tough questions.

Unlike many Americans, I lost family in Hitler’s gas chambers.

This post is not intended to be persuasive. I’m simply processing what has happened from my perspective as a son of a Holocaust survivor.

First and foremost, Spicer’s apology is real. His ignorance is profound, right down to calling concentration camps “Holocaust centers.”

But even that term is revealing, which is why I thank Spicer.

Spicer has demonstrated the power and elegance of renaming things. If I say concentration camp, you immediately visualize barbed wire, gaunt prisoners, striped uniforms, and maybe armed guards.

A Holocaust Center is not denialism. It is renaming. And it is sanitizing.

Well, that’s what Spicer is paid to do—he is paid to convince Americans that our nation is filled with “carnage,” that many Chicagoans are likely to be murdered, that Devin Nunes rightly accused Susan Rice of committing a felony, that 3-5 million illegal voters inflated Hillary’s numbers, that 130 million Muslims in Somalia and other travel-banned nations are a danger to Americans— the list of distortions is too long to cite.

Returning to Holocaust Centers. Perhaps that’s a place where prisoners received refreshments on their “long journey.” Maybe these were places to hook up Jews and other undesirables with friendly tour guides.

But Sean Spicer did something new for me. I lost an 8 year-old aunt, Gabriella, and a 9 year-old uncle, Mickey (my namesake) to gassing in Auschwitz. Because of Sean Spicer’s unintended equation of Assad and Hitler—and because I have no evidence of exactly how Gabby and Mickey died— I’ll look at photos of Syrian children who died in gas attacks.

Syrian children or my aunt and uncle— and other children caught in wars— it doesn’t help to differentiate their nationalities or backgrounds, or how they were murdered.

Tomorrow, I have an opportunity to teach a class of Fifth Graders about my family’s Holocaust experience.

Thank you, Sean Spicer, for giving more purpose and urgency to this class, their parents, their teacher, and me.

Ku Klux Klan at the University of Illinois: 1906-1930s

At breakfast this morning with a friend who has lived in Champaign since the late 1940s,  I was shocked to learn that the KKK was very active in this community.

Sure enough, the archives at the University of Illinois verifies his account. The photo is readily discoverable on Google Images.

The link to the archive is here: https://archives.library.illinois.edu/features/kluklux.html . The following is directly quoted.

The origin of a University of Illinois organization known as the Ku Klux Klan is shrouded in mystery. It is not even clear when the group was formed. Various sources list 1906, 1908, and 1909 as the organization's year of foundation. During this period, the novels of Thomas Dixon– The Leopard's Spots (1902), The Clansman (1905), and The Traitor (1907)–had brought the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan back into public consciousness. Offering a romanticized portrait of the Ku Klux Klan, the novels reflected Dixon's view that racial equality would result in the destruction of civilized society. It is possible that Dixon's novels may have inspired the University of Illinois group's name. But absent any direct evidence, one cannot say authoritatively that the campus group was connected with or had the same racist aims as the national Ku Klux Klan (KKK).

The first apparent Ku Klux Klan references in the University of Illinois yearbook occurred in The Illio 1909, with "Ku Klux" being listed as student activity/organization for several senior (class of 1908) students; the 1909 yearbook, however, did not include a group photo page or a statement of its purpose. From early on, a defining characteristic of the group seemed to have been a penchant for extreme secrecy. Indeed, the "Roasts" section of The 1910 Illio even contained a satire mocking the "Flu Flux" and its ultra–secretiveness:

We must not omit mention of Flu Flux, which meets at midnight when the moon is in the fourth quarter, in the northeast corner of the cellar of the far cow barn on the south campus. No one may penetrate their awful secrecy without horrible punishment, the least penalty for intrusion into their mystic circle being instantaneous death. No initiate may profane with his presence their profound deliberations. They serve at their meetings, which are devoted to obstruse investigations into why the Boneyard is only six inches deep, and kindred questions, pop-corn and sterilized milk.

The Illio 1916 contained the names and a group photo of Ku Klux Klan members along with their fraternity affiliations and the organization is identified as an interfraternity honor society. On January 27, 1915, the Council of Administration approved a petition (submitted by Harold Pogue) to "perfect" the organization of the group. According to the minutes of the Council, membership in the group was limited to "one junior representative from each of the national fraternities at the University of Illinois."

The campus Klan was listed in subsequent yearbooks until 1925, by which point its name had been changed to Tu–Mas. The Illio 1918, for the first time, specifically identified the Ku Klux Klan as a junior interfraternity society. For some reason, the organization briefly changed its name to Klu Klux Klan in 1919–1920. Interestingly, Timothy Messer-Kruse points out that a University of Wisconsin group of comparable name also added an extra "l" to the first word the very same year. This may not have been just a coincidence since as the Wisconsin organization had been set up by University of Illinois Ku Klux members J. A. Ingwersen, G. B. Bilderback, C. E. Lovejoy, Robert Lorenz, and Robert Tutwiler in May 1919.

From 1917 onward, the Daily Illini regularly reported on the activities of the campus Klan. The group largely behaved like a traditional fraternity, holding regular dances, selling Homecoming badges, etc. Before the onset of Prohibition, the campus Klan apparently was notorious for its devotion to alcohol. Writing in the Daily Illini in June 1919, the "Campus Scout" poked fun at the group:

Ku Klux Klan, secret beer drinking society, gave its annual hop Friday at the Delta Tau domicile. The Delta Tau house was selected for the affair because of its appropriate atmosphere, necessary for the proper accomplishment of the chief oath of the society, liquor lapping.

With the coming of Prohibition in 1920, the "Campus Scout" predicted as a result "the disbanding of Ku Klux, Delta Tau Delta, Kappa Sigma, etc."

While there is no evidence that the group had racist aims, the campus Klan apparently did at times emulate some aspects of the Ku Klux Klan as envisioned by Thomas Dixon and D. W. Griffith. (Premiering early in 1915, Griffith's film "Birth of a Nation" portrayed members of the Ku Klux Klan as heroic defenders of a white South under siege by evil Northern carpetbaggers.) The humor section of The Illio 1918, for example, contained a rather obscurely worded statement possibly implying that University Klan members wore sheets as a uniform:

Be sure that your bedding is clean when you move into your room. That's your only chance to enjoy such modern conveniences as integral sheets. The style now is to use them for table-cloths and since Pan–Hellenic let down the bars there is a demand for several additional Ku–Klux uniforms.

In October 1920, Ku Klux members were observed wearing black hoods and robes to a dance held at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house. Early in 1921, the Urbana Daily Courier employed word imagery directly associating the campus Klan with the romanticized KKK depictions of Dixon and Griffith: "Members of the Ku Klux Klan will emerge from the shadows," the Courier wrote, "clatter down the road on horse back, each with a captive 'damsel' in his arms, in order that they may all dance at the Sigma Nu chapter house, 303 East John street, Saturday evening."

Meanwhile, the avowedly racist national Second Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1915. By the early 1920s, the group's membership grew rapidly in the North as well as the South. The national Ku Klux Klan began to organize in the Champaign County area as early as October 1921. In August 1922, the national Klan held its first conclave in Champaign County– supposedly "the largest conclave in the history of Champaign county" up to that point. "Urbana gazed with awe Saturday evening while an automobile procession of the Ku Klux Klan moved northward thru the city," the Urbana Daily Courier reported. "They seemed to come from every place and the crowd is said to have numbered 4,500." By late 1922, the activities of the national Klan captured headlines throughout the country. The organization's methods came under greater scrutiny especially after the December 1922 murders of two African-Americans by Klansmen in Mer Rouge, Louisiana.

The University of Illinois Ku Klux Klan became embroiled in controversy at this same time. According to the Daily Illini, "on the evening of a recent Ku Klux Klan . . . dance, the hooded and gowned members of the organization overstepped the bounds of propriety at a number of organized houses." The student newspaper elaborated on the incident, reporting that the campus Ku Klux Klan members had "disguised themselves in the red-crossed robes and hoods and loudly proclaimed their presence." Maintaining that the incident was prompted by "simple idiocy," the Daily Illini editorialist called on the university group to change its name in order to distinguish it from the national Ku Klux Klan:

The campus group is in no way connected with the older group that is now spreading so rapidly throughout the country; its aims and its ideals are of a different nature, its personnel different; the campus Ku Klux Klan is purely a social organization.

The Daily Illini deemed it "unfortunate that the juniors should have the same name as the band of 100 percent Americans who have aroused such a storm of protest from coast to coast."

The writing was on the wall for the campus Ku Klux Klan. On January 9, 1923–one day before the Daily Illini editorial was published–the Committee on Student Organizations and Activities recommended that the Klan not be allowed to hold any more dances until it was "properly organized." The following day, the Council of Administration, accepted the committee's advice and barred the group from giving any further dances until it was formed in the "ususal way."

In March 1923, representatives of all the university Ku Klux Klan chapters–supposedly five in number–met in Chicago and provisionally agreed to change the organization's name. On April 11, 1923, the University of Illinois chapter of the Ku Klux Klan officially changed its name to Tu–Mas–reportedly a Native American term. H. C. Woodward, president of the group, reported that this decision had been made because of "confusion arising from confounding the college organization with the recently–revived Invisible empire (2nd Ku Klux Klan)." According to Messer–Kruse, the University of Wisconsin's Ku Klux Klan followed suit, also altering its name to Tu–Mas. Illinois's Tu–Mas became inactive in the 1930s.

Voter Caging and Voter Purging

Once a voter’s identity has been verified—as I observed this morning— there is no valid reason for an election judge to question a voter’s address.

Whether the interaction was creepy or something else, it provides an opportunity for us to understand current voter suppression practices.

Here is a brief summary from the National Election Defense Coalition (quoting below). I have emphasized in red text ways in which challengers exploit voter addresses.

2014 VOTER PURGE

African Americans, Asian Americans, and Hispanics are 67 percent more likely to share a common name as a white American.

...

Nearly two million of the pairs of names lacked middle name matches.

Voters purged are not told they are accused of voting twice.

The procedure, created by the Republican Kansas Secretary of State Kris Kobach, is to send a postcard to each “duplicate” voter requiring them to re-verify their registration.

A large percentage are never delivered—Americans, especially renters and lower-income Americans, move often—or cards are tossed away confused for junk mail.

VOTER CAGING

Interstate Crosscheck is a form of Voter Caging—challenging the registration status of voters and calling into question the legality of allowing them to vote.

Sometimes it involves sending direct mail to the addressees of registered voters, and compiling a list of addressees from which the mail is returned undelivered. This list is then used to purge or challenge voters’ registrations on the grounds that the voters do not legally reside at the registered addresses.

In the United States, this practice is legal in many states. However, it has been challenged in the courts and due to its perceived racial bias, has been declared illegal under the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

The term voter caging has also been applied to recent cases where increased requirements for proof of identity, residency, and eligibility have been added with the intent to limit the number of eligible voters.

Creepy Voting Experience in Champaign, Illinois

I voted today in local elections. An African-American man was in line before me. He had already been verified and given a ballot.

One of the election judges—an older white man who was wearing a VFW hat— stopped the voter and said, “Where’s Branch Street?” 

The African-American man politely explained that it’s a small street east of Mattis Road. 

The VFW judge replied, “I’ve never heard of it.” 

The voter explained again in a patient tone and concluded, “It’s there.” 

The VFW judge said, again, “I still can’t picture where the street is.”

By this time, I was growing visibly annoyed. I was being delayed by an absurd conversation—and more to the point, it appeared that this was racially motivated voter harassment. 

I can’t say this for sure—the judge spoke in a polite and good-natured tone, and the voter didn’t seem to be offended.

The female judge sitting next to the VFW judge tapped the judge on the forearm and said, “Please, let’s move the process along. This man (me) is here to vote.”

Nonetheless, I registered my two concerns with our County Clerk. First, why is an election judge permitted to wear an organizational hat in his role as a judge? Members of the VFW have fought to preserve and defend my right to vote. I honor and deeply appreciate that.

Nonetheless, the VFW has been critical of Pres. Obama. Its national commander, in 2013, made headlines by railing against the then-president. “We don’t have confused politics, … and we don’t need any President of the United States lecturing us about how we are individually [affected] by the economy.” My point isn’t that the VFW can’t be a political body—of course they can. My point is that I don’t want any hint of politics at the polls, especially from an election judge. (And, by the way, aren’t you supposed to take your hat off in a church? That’s the old-school way I was taught.)

My second and more central concern: This conversation appeared to question the honesty of a black voter. That is shameful and cannot be tolerated. 

“Helping” the Unemployed: Trump, GOP Expand Drug-Testing for Unemployment

Under the Obama administration, states were prohibited from drug testing unemployed people as a condition for receiving benefits. Two exceptions were made: (1) if the person lost his job due to illicit drug use, and (2) if the person’s occupation regularly requires drug testing (e.g., jobs that require use of firearm).

Pres. Trump signed a resolution last week (H.J.Res.42) that allows these rules to be rewritten.

The Department of Labor will rewrite rules or Congress will enact a follow-up law.

Either way, the “Ready to Work Act” will allow states to expand disqualification standards for unemployment based on drug testing people who apply for benefits.

Some questions to consider:

Today, drug or alcohol testing typically costs $50-$80 or more for a drug and alcohol urine or saliva test performed at a laboratory. Last year, 7.8 million were unemployed. If everyone were drug tested, that would cost $390 million per year. Who will pay for drug testing unemployment claimants? Taxpayers? Employers? Unemployed people?

Where will unemployed people who test positive-- and are denied all benefits-- turn for help for food and treatment?

Why use a drug test only for disqualifying people and not treating their problem?
Aren't a lot of these claimants the people Trump said need help in America's present state of "carnage"? How does this help the people battling opioid addiction in states such as Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia? 

Should the law be renamed? If so, how about “Ready to Panhandle at Every Stoplight in America”?

“True the Vote”— Skew the Vote— or Screw the Vote?

“True the Vote” was created in 2009, shortly after Pres. Obama’s election. It pushes the false narrative that voter fraud is endemic and massive. Their website states: “Our Republic flourishes when citizens are confident that their vote is free, fair, and secure. Yet, according to a recent survey 81% of Americans believe that election fraud is a very real problem. This growing concern jeopardizes our entire system of government, eroding our trust in elected leaders and undermining our confidence in the system by which they govern—  beginning at the polls and rising up through the highest offices in the land.”

Sounds like a longer version of a Donald Trump tweet.

The real story is told by Ben Cady & Tom Glazer, Voters Strike Back: Litigating Against Modern Voter Intimidation, 39 N.Y.U. Rev. L. & Soc. Change 173, 216-19 (2015).

True the Vote (TTV) is a voter suppression group that harasses minority voters.

Here is an excerpt of their research (quoting):

There are several recent examples of confrontational voter challenges at polling places. During a 2011 special election, Empower Massachusetts, a ballot security group, reportedly engaged in belligerent voter challenges targeted at Hispanics and people with disabilities. According to one report, a local official said the challenges were “unnecessary,” and another witness said that citizens came away from the polling place shaken and in tears and that “[s]ome people left saying, ‘I'll never vote again.”’ During the 2010 recall election in Wisconsin, voting “slowed to a crawl” at Lawrence University in Appleton due to “disruptive” challenges made by three elections observers, including one from TTV.

The 2012 election cycle also saw a large number of offsite registration challenges that raised concerns about intimidation. TTV and its local volunteers developed proprietary software to compile challenge lists using “driver's license records, property records and other databases.” Volunteers then used those lists to initiate registration challenges with local election officials.

In Hamilton County, Ohio, Tea Party groups challenged 2100 voter registrations, with some groups particularly focusing their efforts on students.

Many of these challenges were groundless; for example, Tea Party groups called into question hundreds of student registrations for failure to specify dorm-room numbers, but election officials roundly rejected these challenges.

Nevertheless, some voters received challenge notices in the mail stating that they were required to attend a court hearing to defend against the challenge. Many such hearings were sparsely attended. Ohio's chief elections official, a Republican, criticized the frivolous challenges and expressed concern that such efforts can “border on voter intimidation.”

For more, see https://socialchangenyu.com/volume-39-issue-2/voters-strike-back-litigating-against-modern-voter-intimidation/