Racism

Incidents of racism are still widespread -- even in upscale Howard County, several civil rights activists said yesterday.The warning emerged during a public meeting of the Maryland Advisory Committee to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights at the county Office of Human Rights in the Columbia Gateway Building.From grievances within the local and state school system to accusations of racial profiling in shopping malls, several speakers invited to the hearing by the committee told panel members and an audience of about 30 people that the county is not as utopian as some would like to believe.

For the first time in the summer-long mayoral campaign, the top Democratic candidates were unrestrained in a televised debate last night, challenging each other about racism, credibility and their commitment to the city.Much of the caustic questioning came during a 20-minute portion of the one-hour debate that WMAR-TV Channel 2 dubbed the "wild card" round. And wild it was.City Council President Lawrence A. Bell III took the offensive, again questioning former council ally Martin O'Malley about his vote against a council resolution last year condemning Crown Central Petroleum Corporation for alleged racism and sexism.

James M. Kilby knows what it's like to stare racism in the face. He was one of 22 black students to integrate Warren County High School in Warren County, Va., in 1959.Kilby, a former Crofton resident, remembers a shouting "gauntlet" of white people in his account of that day in his 55-page autobiography, "The Forever Fight: Turn Everyone Against Racism," which he published himself. It was produced with the help of a ghost writer through the vanity press Dorrance Publishing.Kilby will be signing copies of the paperbound volume from noon to 3 p.m. Saturday at Walden Books in Annapolis Mall.

The discussion leader polled a classroom of preteens, asking what drew them to the first middle school Multicultural Leadership Conference in Westminster yesterday.Phyllis Black smiled at the standard answers that included a day off, a good lunch, or "the teacher picked me." She applauded Theresa Ward, a 13-year-old East Middle School pupil."I came because it is time for our generation to finally make a difference," Theresa said. "In middle school, you decide the person you are going to be and the people who will be your friends."

JOE MADISON, you've gone too far. But you've got guts.On Monday, Madison, the superb program director of Radio One's talk stations WOL and WOLB, walked where many are reluctant to tread: He questioned whether sending Mike Tyson - the epitome of dysfunction - to jail for a year ``does any good.''Madison went even further. He suggested that Montgomery County Judge Stephen Johnson sentenced Tyson solely to get publicity. Assuming the accusation is true, it's also quite beside the point.The issue in the matter of Mike Tyson is what it always has been: the conduct of Mike Tyson.

NEW YORK -- In their biggest, most intense protest yet, hundreds of demonstrators directed their rage at New York City officials yesterday over what they say was the racially motivated police killing of an unarmed African immigrant six weeks ago.They marched under sunny skies and blocked the entrance to police headquarters in lower Manhattan, demanding that the four white officers who fired 41 bullets at Amadou Diallo be arrested.Fifty-nine people -- including NAACP President Kweisi Mfume -- were charged with disorderly conduct.

Gerard and Sharon Robinson say they have seen their share of racism.Growing up in Queens, N.Y., in the 1960s, Gerard Robinson, 36, -- who is part Native American and part black -- was constantly interrogated by people in his neighborhood about his ethnic heritage."

Just when it seemed America had exhausted its analysis of racial and ethnic dynamics, a new movement is afoot: White Studies.For many, the term evokes white supremacy, even neo-Nazism. But White Studies stems from a growing cadre of white liberals, mostly academics and social activists, who have spent countless hours writing, talking and educating others on what it means to be white.This burgeoning field of multicultural studies aims to dismantle racism by making whites aware of their privileges -- from assuming police won't target them because of their skin color to not having to teach their children about racism.

Francis Scott Key High School has a minority enrollment of less than 3 percent and no racial diversity among its staff, but Carroll's smallest high school is working to teach its students to practice tolerance toward all.Its Multicultural Club has tackled topical issues and sponsored field trips and arts programs. Last week, its members organized a symposium that encouraged schoolmates to speak openly on racism, sexism and homophobia.Teachers stayed in the background as students led candid discussions.

WASHINGTON -- In an era of serious scandals in various sports, the Jamaican spelling bee controversy stands out as a good example of what happens when you have too much of a good thing.In case you haven't heard, Jamaica has been disqualified from this year's National Spelling Bee -- just a year after Jamaican Jody-Anne Maxwell, 12, became the first non-American to win the contest.The result has been a nightmare for the bee's sponsor, Scripps Howard, part of Cincinnati's E.W. Scripps Co., which has a number of media holdings.

Racism is racism, even from the NAACP I am astonished that the Maryland NAACP is calling for a change in the state constitution because the governor might appoint a "white or Republican leader" ("Call for help on mayor," Oct. 13). That is a racist statement if I ever heard one. If the state GOP came out and said they wanted to change the constitution because an African-American or Democrat might be appointed, they would be lambasted in the media and their leader hounded into resigning.

Former President Jimmy Carter voiced what a lot of President Barack Obama's supporters have been thinking recently: that an underlying factor in the passionate opposition in some quarters to Mr. Obama's policies has something to do with his race. They point to the diffuse anger of "tea party" protesters and others, who go beyond opposing particular policies and passionately decry a country they say they don't recognize anymore. President Carter said he believes that "an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man."

Are health care co-ops an acceptable alternative to a public option for health care reform? Yes 43% No 45% Not sure 12% (932 votes, results not scientific) Next poll: : Does racism play a role in the intense criticism of President Barack Obama and his proposals? Vote at baltimoresun.com/vote

The president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People said last night that racism in the United States is more volatile than ever, calling on the crowd of about 150 people at the Enoch Pratt Free Library to serve in their communities to fight against discrimination. "The barriers have become more permeable. But the point of our work is not to make the barriers more permeable, the point of our work is to make sure there're no more barriers," said Ben Jealous, the civil rights organization's 17th president.

Feds right to worry about Baltimore Following is a comment on The Sun editorial posted on the blog baltimoresun.com/secondopinion. It seems to me that the city of Baltimore officials were stonewalling the feds. Might be wrong, but if so this disturbs me. What else disturbs me is that the feds didn't take any FORCEFUL action until 10 years later. Auditors from the city and feds are incompetent to let this matter continue for 10 years. (And yes, this lies at the feet of [Gov. Martin] O'Malley.

Obama's triumph isn't end of racism I couldn't agree more with David Levering Lewis' assessment, as reported by Scott Calvert, that the election of President Barack Obama should not lead us to think that racism is a thing of the past ("Obama election won't resolve 'problems of race,' historian says," Feb. 8). Mr. Lewis goes on to stress that the president will need to address the "rather specific disabilities that afflict people of color." As a white person who all my life has seen the racism white people direct toward people of color, particularly people of African descent, I would state the issue differently.

When I was about 5, I overheard my grandmother telling my mother that "the coloreds" were moving into Baldwin, Long Island, and that a lot of her neighbors were talking about selling their homes. She used that hushed, conspiratorial tone that naturally puts all children within earshot on aural alert. "Some of them just bought a house a block over," she reported. "But they are the loveliest people!" At the time, I was known as "Big Ears" for my ability to home in on anything even mildly controversial, and, more irritating, to repeat it to anyone who expressed the slightest interest.

Poll on race distorts concerns about Obama After reading Sunday's article "Poll suggests that racism hurts Obama's chances" (Sept. 21), well, I'm not even sure where to begin. First, the poll itself had a slanted purpose as "the pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in a close race." The presumption in the article is that the race should not even be close given the negatives faced by the Republicans and Sen. John McCain. If Sen. Barack Obama isn't ahead by a wide margin, then apparently the reason must be racism.

The Anne Arundel County official who filed a federal complaint accusing her supervisors of racial and sexual discrimination suggested yesterday that prejudice was systemic in other departments of the county government. Rene C. Swafford, an African-American, said her former boss at the Anne Arundel Workforce Development Corp. gave away her office and job duties to white employees and canceled her corporate credit card without warning. She also alleged that she had been passed over for a promotion, then demoted in favor of a white employee.

Someone is going to think this column is racist. That person - he or she will be white - will be unable to point to so much as a semicolon that suggests I believe in the native superiority of my, or any other, race. Rather, the accusation will be based in the fact that the column discusses race, period. It's a phenomenon I've seen many times, most recently when a friend of mine told me that a friend of hers regards me as racist because I write about race. To which I gave my standard answer: If that's how it works, I'll start writing about money.