Motley Moose – Archive

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Everyone in that area – stay inside and stay safe.

Pupils at Carlisle Indian Industrial School, Pennsylvania (c. 1900)

The plight of Native American and First Nations children in the United States and Canada as stolen generations cannot simply be brushed off as “ancient” history.

Many readers here are aware of the history of Native American boarding schools, like Carlisle, depicted above, and the Canadian Indian residential school system, thanks to the ongoing efforts of editors and writers for Native American Netroots, founded by navajo, both on their site and here at Daily Kos. They have also provided critical coverage of the current South Dakota kidnapping of Indian children-placing them white foster care, in pieces written by Meteor Blades, and Aji.

Unfortunately, too many of our fellow citizens remain in complete ignorance.

Olympic Gold Medal swimmer – Cullen Jones

While net-surfing ran across a news story which has wing-nuts all a flutter, promoted on Faux news by resident twit Tucker Carlson and Crystal Wright, his black Republican female sidekick, as yet another excuse to  attack affirmative action, and to spread falsehoods.  What struck me was the headline on the story which blared in all caps:

“AFFIRMATIVE ACTION GONE WILD – AZ TO HIRE LIFEGUARDS WHO CAN”T SWIM”

One of three posters produced by Batchelor Press/Batchelor Institute to commemorate the day Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd apologised to the stolen generation (13th February 2008)

On May 26th, each year since 1998, people in Australia come together for National Sorry Day events, and on February 13th to commemorate the National Apology to the Stolen Generations of Indigenous Australians given by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on behalf of the government and the nation.  

The face of six month old Jonylah Watkins, shot in Chicago March 11, 2013. Died March 12.

It is very hard to look at the faces of babies who are murdered. It hurts when we read about, or know anyone killed violently, but somehow it hurts even more when we see a child who barely had a chance to live taken away by a bullet.

Jonylah Watkins was shot sitting in her dad’s lap, when he was parked in a mini van in the Woodlawn section of Chicago. Her father, Jonathan Watkins, shot multiple times, survived. Though initial news reports were garbled, and contained misinformation, the end result is the same.  Another child is dead.

Over 1,000 mourners attended her funeral in Chicago.  

Part of what is so important about history-to me-is how it is connected to our here and now. As a social scientist, and as an individual who is directly affected by my own nation’s ugly history of enslavement and deeply embedded systemic racism, examining how nations (as represented by their elected officials) deal with past violations of the civil and human rights of a portion of their citizenry is a topic I find deeply absorbing. I also think there is much we can learn that we can apply by examining both mistakes, and contemporary attempts at redress.

Presidents, Prime Ministers, heads of state-as representatives of their countries-have, in recent years, made heartfelt statements of apology (or signed proclamations of apology) to those who suffered under regimes and programs which adversely affected those targeted by specific laws or programs.

They’ve said, “We are sorry.”  

Oh the irony!  

As the Supreme Court announced that it is going to place a second affirmative action case on its calendar, a review of Michigan’s Prop 2 affirmative action ban, which will join the case already before them (Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin), I thought I’d go back and review the right wing’s media presentation of all of this, and look at just who are the poster faces for the movement to eradicate programs in universities that help gain more access to higher education for those who are not privileged-blacks, latinos and native americans.  

Two white women and a black man are ostensibly leading the charge. I say ostensibly since the two women are named in legal cases and the third, the black man, claims to be a crusader for civil rights, but it only took a few moments to figure out that the same old right wing wrong-headed big money supporters of bigotry are forking over the green-backs to roll-back gains we’ve made since the 60’s.  

Finally, the trial many New Yorkers and those who care about civil liberties, racial profiling and the criminal injustice system across the U.S. is underway in the New York City Federal Courthouse at Pearl Street.

Some people worry about black cats crossing their paths.

Blue jersey mom commented here today that black cats are the last to be adopted from animal shelters here in the U.S. because people think they are unlucky.

Since we just celebrated St. Paddy’s day, in honor of the Saint who in myth drove serpents out of Ireland, presumably to banish evil (though in many cultures snakes represent wisdom, and Ireland had no snakes) and we consume cereal called “Lucky Charms” in millions of bowls…and kids in my neighborhood grew up hopping over cracks in the sidewalk so as not to “break your momma’s back”, I got to wondering what superstitions you all grew up with, or practice?

This last election was a very good year for electing Democratic women to national office.

We seated Elizabeth Warren (MA), Tammy Baldwin (WI), Mazie Hirono (HI) and Heidi Heitkamp (ND) in the Senate, and Kirsten Gillibrand (NY) will now be serving a full term.

There are new freshwomen in the House:

(AZ) Ann Kirkpatrick and Kyrsten Sinema, (CA) Gloria Negrete McLeod, Julia Brownley,(CT) Elizabeth Esty, (FL) Lois Frankel, (HI) Tulsi Gabbard, (IL) Tammy Duckworth, and

Cheri Bustos, (NV) ***Dina Titus, (NH) *** Carol Shea-Porter and Ann McLane Kuster,(NM) Michelle Lujan Grisham, (NY) Grace Meng, (OH) Joyce Beatty and (WA) Suzan DelBene.

(*** has been in Congress before)

And there is a chance that we will see more bids for the White House made by women, in the years ahead.  

That’s the good news.

Here’s the bad news.

The United States ranks 77th in the world in women’s participation in government.