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GRITtv: The F Word: Equal Protection is Better Than Beer and Dialogue
The National Council of La Raza, a top Latino civil rights group, is taking a shot at RNC chair Michael Steele and several prominent GOP figures for skipping its ongoing annual conference while Democrats are basking in the contrast. Having nominated the first Latina to the Supreme Court and sending no end of speakers to the La Raza conference, they're in like Flynn with Latino voters, they hope. But things are not so simple. The day after the La Raza affair there was another gathering in NY, and Latinos came out in big numbers. And that was to protest at the Council on Foreign Relations -- where Homeland Security Secretary Napolitano was talking up the Administration's anti-terror policy. A slew of human rights and immigrant-rights organizations, including many Latinos, were protesting loudly, because -- for all the nice talk -- the administration's immigration policy has actually put more, not less power in the hands of law enforcement and done little so far to stop abusive raids and deadly detention abuses. Armed federal immigration agents are still illegally pushing and shoving their way into homes and taking people away on suspicion. As I said, beer and a chat is nice. But ensuring equal protection is better.
Email this pageGRITtv: Henry Louis Gates' Arrest: A Teachable Moment?
There's been an endless cycle of commentary on the Henry Louis Gates affair since the Harvard Professor was arrested in his home and President Obama made the off script remark that the Cambridge police had "acted stupidly." Both men are now saying it is time to move on and that what happened was a teachable moment. But what, if anything, have we learned? Bill Fletcher, Jr., Executive Editor of Black Commentator, Ron Kuby a Civil Rights Attorney and the host of Doing Time with Ron Kuby on Air America, Dennis Parker, Director of the Racial Justice Program at the American Civil Liberties Union, and Rev. Irene Monroe, a Ford Fellow and Doctoral Candidate at Harvard Divinity School on race, class, and law enforcement in America. The ACLU has recently published a report on racial profiling that you can find here.
