A New Frontier For Civil Rights? Chinese Paper Says Blacks Banned From Bars During Olympics

by Nsenga Burton

ATLANTA -- What do Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Jason Kidd have in common? They are the starting five of the 2008 Olympic Men’s Basketball team and none of them will be admitted to any bars in Beijing because they are black.

No, this is not fiction -- it is fact as reported by the South China Morning Post last July 18th. Beijing authorities have forbidden bar owners to serve blacks during the 2008 Olympics.

How hypocritical is it that the host of the largest international sports competition in the free world would ban an entire group of people based on race? This blanket discrimination is couched in the idea of “controlling” Beijing’s problem with prostitution and drugs, which is primarily driven by Mongolians.

Somehow, this policy smacks of impropriety, pun intended, and underscores China’s continuous policies of discrimination. You would think with the global embarrassment over the mistreatment of Tibetan Monks, faulty consumer products, and the suppression of information about deadly diseases, that China would have figured out by now that the systematic exclusion of an entire group of people, many of whom have histories of horrendous discrimination in their home countries, would not reflect well on the mainland. Further, I was not aware that blacks owned drug trafficking and prostitution worldwide. Amsterdam anyone?

Let’s get this straight. Black people can participate in the games, add money to the economy in “permitted” spaces like hotels, lodges and restaurants, but they cannot go to a bar, which may be located in a hotel, lodge or restaurant.

This is outrageous. Would the world stand still if in 2008 the United States was banning entire populations of people based on perceived ideas about race?

A New Frontier For Civil Rights?....

The U.S. Military Has Plenty of Black Troops, Yet Why Do So Few Serve Among its Upper Ranks?

By: Lolita C. Baldor, Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) Blacks have made great strides in the military since it was integrated 60 years ago, but they still struggle to gain a foothold in the higher ranks, where less than 6 percent of U.S. general officers are African-American.

At a ceremony commemorating the day President Truman ordered the desegregation of the armed forces, military officials and black leaders said the U.S. must not rest on its laurels.

"My hope and expectation is that, in the years ahead, more African-Americans will staff the armed forces at the highest levels," Defense Secretary Robert Gates told a crowd that included many black former service members. "We must make sure the American military continues to be a great engine of progress and equality."

While blacks make up about 17 percent of the total force, they are just 9 percent of all officers, according to data obtained and analyzed by The Associated Press.

The rarity of blacks in the top ranks is apparent in one startling statistic: Only one of the 38 four-star generals or admirals serving as of May was black. And just 10 black men have ever gained four-star rank -- five in the Army, four in the Air Force and one in the Navy, according to the Pentagon.

As a result, younger African-American soldiers have few mentors of their own race. And as the overall percentage of blacks in the service falls, particularly in combat careers that lead to top posts, the situation seems unlikely to change.

The U.S. Military Has Plenty of Black Troops, Yet Why Do So Few Serve Among its Upper Ranks?....

Racial Tensions Rising in Crown Heights

By: Verena Dobnik, Associated Press

NEW YORK - (AP) Seventeen years after race riots left the streets of one New York City neighborhood bloodied, tensions are rising again there between Orthodox Jews and blacks.

First, a black man was badly beaten. Weeks later, a Jewish teenager said he was attacked by two young blacks while riding his bicycle, and angry Jewish residents took to the streets with signs saying "Jewish blood is not cheap!" and "Every Jew a .22."

And along the way, the district attorney accused an Orthodox Jewish street patrol of vigilantism and compared the group to street gangs like the Bloods and Crips.

STORY....

WHY IS BAD NEWS ABOUT AFRICAN AMERICANS SO POPULAR?

By Robert N. Taylor

Last year the federal government's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta issued a report showing that the steady increase in the HIV/AIDS infection rate for African Americans had actually declined.

This was very good news! It suggested that at least in the area of slowing down the spread of a killer disease Blacks as a group were doing something right. Thus, as a journalist who stays pretty well abreast of what is taking place in the media, I was saddened and disappointed when this news received virtually no mention in the mainstream media and very little coverage even in Black media.

History teaches that if the news had been negative or the HIV/AIDS infection rate had increased significantly, it would have been given widespread coverage. The episode prompted the following question: Why is virtually all the news receiving massive coverage and specifically relating to African Americans usually negative?

An objective analysis suggests three primary reasons:

#1 - It appears that in order to feel good about themselves and reinforce a sense of white superiority, major media organizations delight in reporting how bad off Blacks in America are doing. It is not a media conspiracy. It is a media "attitude" which subconsciously seeks to reinforce in the general population a sense of white superiority. It is as if they are telling whites "No matter how good or bad Blacks are doing, you are better."

A couple of weeks ago, the government released figures on longevity in America showing that on average whites (as a group) live longer than Blacks. But once you carefully look into the figures, what they actually showed was that white women live longer than Blacks. What was never reported by any media organization was that Black women, on average, actually outlive white men. The greatest drag on "Black" life expectancy is that Black men are failing to extend their lives. Black women are actually doing very well. But again, this was not reported.

#2 - Many of our leaders build their careers on emphasizing our problems. These problems do exist but they are too frequently over-emphasized because over-emphasis is the best way to shame politicians and get money and support from white liberal groups. I do not hate them for this approach. But we as a people must realize that this "shame white liberals in to helping us" approach inherently requires that we over-emphasize the problems and the negatives.

#3 - Severe and chronic problems do exist for our people. In fact, their long-term existence has generated a "culture of negative expectations." In other words, we as African Americans often expect things to go wrong. Last week Duke University released a study showing that the Blacks most adversely affected (in terms of health) by discrimination were Blacks who were optimistic and trusting.

Amazingly, the study suggested that Blacks who were more cynical and expected to be discriminated against were not as adversely affected. In other words, many of us have built negative expectations into our very approach to life in America as some type of psychological defense mechanism. This mechanism may prevent our blood pressure from skyrocketing and damaging our hearts in the face of negatives but it also undermines hope and positive expectations.

However, with all the above being said, it is still up to us. The starting point for eventually generating positive news coverage is by doing positive things. Thus, the following should become our New Year's resolutions:

A. Starting in 2008, you are to do something unexpectedly nice or constructive for someone or some group once a month, every month for the entire year.

B. Secondly, you are to correct at least one wrong each month. We have all made mistakes or failed to do something we should have done. The correction may range from an apology to paying a debt to a friend or family member.

These suggestions may sound a bit silly. But they are a start to generating good news and building new attitudes in Black America. It would also help if you insist that those discussing our problems also propose practical solutions.