Cheney and Gonzalez Indicted | Racist Backlash to Obama Win | Blackwater Busted?

Rights & Liberties Newsletter November 20th, 2008 More from Rights & Liberties »

Memo to Obama: Closing Guantanamo Can't Wait By Andy Worthington, AlterNet If President-elect Barack Obama truly plans to make good on his promise to close the American gulag, he should start by heeding this advice. Read more »   A disturbing coda to the election of Barack Obama has been a spike in racist hate crimes -- and not just in the South. As Hannah Strange reports this week, "Cross burnings, black figures hung from nooses, and schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama" are just some of the incidents that have been documented by police from California to Maine." In New York, a black teenager said he was attacked with a bat on election night by four white men who shouted "Obama," while in the Pittsburgh suburb of Forest Hills, a black man said he found a note with a racial slur on his car windshield, saying "now that you voted for Obama, just watch out for your house." In Springfield, Massachusetts, a church still under construction that was to house the mostly black congregation of the Macedonia Church of God was burned to the ground. The New York Times described the church's pastor: "Sitting there, stunned, emotional, Bishop Robinson sought context for what had just occurred: a black president is elected, a black church is burned. He thought of dreams realized and dreams denied. 'It was so close I could taste it,' he says. 'I could just see it.'" The good news is that these types of crimes, which did little do intimidate communities of color from voting on election day, reek of the desperation of hate-filled people who cannot cope with their waning influence. The sobering news is that their crimes are an ugly reminder of the work left to be done in creating a more equal and just society. Thanks for reading, Liliana Segura Editor, Rights & Liberties Special Coverage     Obama Victory Brings "Racist Rats Out of the Woodwork" By Hannah Strange, The Times of London UK A disturbing wave of post-election hate crimes across the country shows that the cancer of American racism is far from cured. Read more »   Is the "Turban Effect" the New Bradley Effect? By Tom Jacobs, Miller-McCune.com Two recent studies conducted in two very different settings reveal a disturbing anti-Muslim bias among students. Read more »   How I Spent Election Night in a Baltimore Jail By Michael M. Hughes, Baltimore City Paper On a night of historic celebration, Baltimore city police arrested revelers without cause or provocation. Read more »   "Justifiable Homicides" Are on the Rise: Have Self-Defense Laws Gone Too Far? By Liliana Segura, AlterNet With shoot first/ask questions later legislation passing across the country, are more Americans getting away with murder? Read more »   Blackwater Busted? Six Guards May Be Charged in Iraq Massacre By Jeremy Scahill, TheNation.com Critics still fear reckless behavior by the 140,000 private corporate contractors in Iraq will continue. Read more »   Could a Person of Color from an Immigrant Family Be Elected in Europe? By Sanjay Suri, IPS News Europe seems to offer neither popular nor political acceptability to members of its minority groups. Read more »   Dick Cheney, Alberto Gonzales Indicted By Grand Jury By Faiz Shakir, Think Progress A South Texas grand jury has returned multi-count indictments against Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Read more »   PEEK and Video: The hottest buzz and videos on the web     Retired Military Brass Call for Repeal of 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' By Christian Ehret, Jurist Legal News and Research 100 retired admirals and generals of the U.S military called Monday for a repeal of the discriminatory policy. Read more »   Record Numbers Seek Last-Minute Pardons From President Bush By Matt Corley, Think Progress A record number of felons are seeking presidential pardons or commutations from George W. Bush. Read more »   Why Eric Holder is an Alarming Pick for AG By John Nichols, The Nation For starters, he called for the firing of any "petty bureaucrat" who might dissent from the expansion of government powers after 9/11. Read more »

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