To be clear: racism is not just carrying a torch in Charlottesville, or writing a bigoted comment on Facebook. Racism is also the failure of those in power to hold white supremacists accountable for actions and words that harm and demean people of color.
Cuomo, Klein and Flanagan may not be carrying tiki torches, but they are implicitly endorsing racism from certain donors like Loeb who send the biggest checks.
...Loeb has previously compared teachers’ unions to the KKK, and he referred to a Prem Watsa, an insurance company CEO of Indian ancestry as a “schwarze” – a derogatory Yiddish phrase for blacks. Yet he continues to sit on the board of the Success Academy charter school network, and he is among the top political contributors to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other prominent elected officials in New York.
It keeps getting worse. Loeb called someone a "schwarze" in email. Message to Eva and Success: Not who you want heading..... Zakiyah Ansari,
http://cityandstateny.com/
articles/opinion/dan-loeb-and- the-political-price-of-racism. html
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| Daniel Loeb Vision of UFT Meetings |
More News:
Stringer to use Loeb's 2011 donation to help Robert Jackson & Stewart-Cousins - NY Daily News
Black Democrats Rally Behind New York Senator Amid Racial Politicking
New York Times2 days agoThe hedge fund manager, Daniel S. Loeb, one of the state’s most prolific political donors, said in a Facebook posting last week that Ms. Stewart-Cousins was worse for minorities ...Charter School Advocates Play The Race Card
The Huffington Post3 days agoOne of Eva’s key supporters is hedge fund manager Daniel Loeb. Loeb is chairman of the board of Moskowitz’s Success Academy charter school network. He “donated” $300,000 ...
Zakiyah Ansari kicks his butt here.
Dan Loeb and the political price of racism
Zakiyah Ansari
White supremacists don’t all look or act the same.
As the nation saw this past weekend in Charlottesville, they can be young men in polo shirts and khakis, casually holding tiki torches and traveling from across the country to participate in a campus march.
Some hold advanced degrees, and some even work on Wall St.
The events in Charlottesville came on the heels of Dan Loeb, a politically powerful hedge fund manager, comparing state Sen. Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the highest ranking black woman elected official in New York, to the KKK. In a Facebook rant, Loeb said she has done "more damage to people of color than anyone who has donned a hood.”
Loeb defenders tried to dismiss his remark as an isolated incident and unfortunate choice of words, but he has a history of racist and bigoted remarks.
Indeed, Loeb has previously compared teachers’ unions to the KKK, and he referred to a Prem Watsa, an insurance company CEO of Indian ancestry as a “schwarze” – a derogatory Yiddish phrase for blacks. Yet he continues to sit on the board of the Success Academy charter school network, and he is among the top political contributors to Gov. Andrew Cuomo and other prominent elected officials in New York.
Racism’s 21st Century makeover means white supremacists can blend in as polo-wearing millennials, billionaire hedge fund managers and top political donors. They’re slicker and more credentialed, with ties to elite education, money, and power.
Richard Spencer, one of the most visible white supremacists of the moment, has a master’s degree from the University of Chicago, after all.
Today’s racists have been emboldened by Donald Trump, who holds nothing back when sputtering his bigoted beliefs on Fox News, in the Oval Office or in 140 characters on Twitter. White supremacists took Trump’s initial refusal to condemn them in Charlottesville as “really, really good.” His White House is still closely aligned with white supremacists.
Hedge fund managers like Loeb lined up to back Donald Trump’s policies when he won in November, and never spoke out against the appointments of Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions, Sebastian Gorka, and other white supremacists to the Trump administration.
Loeb and his ilk got the message from Trump that they could throw verbal bombs at leaders of color with impunity, and face minimal if any consequences.
When racism is not met with an immediate rebuke, it is legitimized and seen as acceptable behavior, especially for white men who are wealthy and well connected.
While it is true that Gov. Cuomo, Independent Democratic Conference leader Sen. Jeff Klein and Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan did distance themselves from Loeb's comments on Facebook, they continue to keep his money.
They refuse to give back the hundreds of thousands that Loeb gave them as campaign contributions. By contrast, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer has already pledged he will purge his accounts of funds Loeb gave him many years ago.
Failure to hold Loeb accountable through swift and stinging condemnation, and forceful rejection of their political contributions, only sends the message that racist actions will be tolerated for the right price.
To be clear: racism is not just carrying a torch in Charlottesville, or writing a bigoted comment on Facebook. Racism is also the failure of those in power to hold white supremacists accountable for actions and words that harm and demean people of color.
Cuomo, Klein and Flanagan may not be carrying tiki torches, but they are implicitly endorsing racism from certain donors like Loeb who send the biggest checks.
That's wrong and unacceptable.
Zakiyah Ansari is advocacy director of the Alliance for Quality Education. Jonathan Westin is executive director of New York Communities for Change.
18 comments:
All the fascists should be called out including left fascists Antifa. They wear masks, carry the hammer and sickle flag, and are getting a pass in the press. check out their website.
"Antifa"? You mean anti-fascists? Are you nuts 7:15? Once again, just like the idiot who currently occupies the White House, are you going to equate the pro Nazi/white supremacist side with those who protested their presence? In your post you talk about "left fascists" wearing masks/carrying a hammer and sickle flag, do you have any actual evidence, not something photoshopped? And by the way, considering that the current administration is a wholly bought & paid for subsidiary of Vladimir Putin, who leads the country with the hammer & sickle flag, you might want think a little clearer before you make a nonsense comment.
Antifa causes some room to pause in some of their actions -- ie, Portland, univeristies, innaugeration -- anarcists -- some don't necessarily consider them part of the left -- some libertarian tendencies - but on other hand given history of what happened in Germany in the 20s when Hitler people ran rampant -- what happened in Charlottesville was equivalent to say a NAZI Rally c. 1921 - 12 years before Hitler took power. Think 2030 if this continues.
They could have been stopped.
ALso consider that a chunk of the police and parts of the military might line with alt right over antifa -- they let them go after peaceful protesters last week and only Antifa defended them.
Also Putin Russia no longer communist so hammer and sickle left comparison doesn't work -- they are right wing nationalists.
Check out youtube. Plenty of evidence of flags regalia violence etc. They roamed DC for hours on inauguration day fighting cops, burning cars, etc. Most importantly they have appointed themselves guardians of Free speech. They mobstorm events to stop people from speaking who they deem unworthy of first amendment rights. I do not like Ann Coulter for example, but! Does she have a right to speak. Charlotsville was neo nazi, and they should be confronted. Antifa attack Trump rallies and supporters.
Antifa are communists. They predate Putin by 50 years. This could be America's Weimar moment.
Many antifa are anarchists not communists == anarchists predated communists.
Many socialists do not support their tactics.
Be careful about lumping people into categories.
Agreed! Hence Trump's
comments about the stripe of those attending the rally at Charlotsville. The NYT did a piece today amplifying the idea that not all those present were Nazis. Some were genuinely upset that statues are being removed.Perhaps we are in a Mao style cultural revolution and elements of the left have become the Red Guards rouge
Robert E. Lee was a traitor. He took up arms against the U.S. No reason to have a monument.
Great article about the statues
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2017/08/16/regime-change-in-charlottesville-215500
We have an ugly history. Understand it, learn from it and be aware of it. Tearing down statues is an attempt to erase it from public knowledge may be well intentioned. It is upsetting to the group that was targeted. I certainly wouldn't want to see a statue of Hitler in Germany, but you will find statues of Cromwell in England https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statue_of_Oliver_Cromwell,_Westminster. Obama rejected Churchill's, for good reason. One has to question ones own prejudices in these matters. It's there in every group.
Where can I find a statue to Benedict Arnold since we have statues to traitors.
Good comment. Yes! We all have to examine our own consciences now. The mob has been unleashed (both sides) Remember the chilling scene in Schindler's list where one Nazi says to another as they burn books, "By this evening 600 years of Jewish history in Cracow will be but a rumor." Time for dialogue and genuine attempts to create common ground. Cultural cleansing and ethno nationalism are truly evil.
That's an interesting comparison. There was controversy though when they were put up. The birthplace of Cromwell declined a statue, and the Irish community and Irish Nationalists voted against 2 other statues. According to wikipedia, Cromwell was genocidal or near genocidal towards Catholics in Scotland and Ireland. Another interesting point is that the statues were put up around the 300th anniversary of Cromwell's death, but it seems also at a time when there was push back against British rule in Ireland culminating in the Easter Rising and the War of Independence 1912-1922.
There is no statue of Cromwell in Ireland or Scotland, peering down at the descendants of those he committed crimes against.
The thing is that most of my ancestors were of Irish descent and have been in England for well over 200 years and that's not uncommon, but rarely recognized. Same goes for the Scots. Just like African Americans here. Those statues of Cromwell should never have gone up.
There are many street names in Dublin today of former English politicians and English aristocracy.
Many of them are revered and are Irish as they are English. We were all one. My Irish great grandparents considered themselves English. My parents reject that fully. Having a statues of
Cromwell is wrong considering the enormous amount of British people that have Irish ancestry. https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.independent.ie/entertainment/books/from-morrissey-to-tony-blair-how-irelands-children-are-at-the-heart-of-english-culture-26438203.html
http://www.neatorama.com/2014/01/01/Americas-Monument-to-Its-Most-Infamous-Traitor-Benedict-Arnold/
I agree. I also think they went up because of fear of Irish growing political power.
Peggy Noonan, in today's NY Post, mentions the Cromwell statue. Gail Collins, in the NY Times also addresses statues this week. I like her idea of giving statues a 20 year life span.
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