Image Source: WENN.com

Tia Norfleet

Tia Norfleet made her mark in black history by becoming the first black race car driver. But then she made us all look bad when she was kicked out of NASCAR for lying about her identity to cover up a few drug and theft charges and faking her NASCAR racing license.

Tia also had a criminal past she tried to apologize for, saying:

“People make mistakes in their life and move forward and make a better way. I think things that I’ve done, people make mistakes, as a child, as a teen, and basically, it’s things that you may not be proud of but you move forward and you help others. And they may be in the same situation and you can relate and they can relate to you, and you help them as much as possible.”

But we still feel bad for all of the little black girls who looked up to Tia before they found out that she was a criminal and a liar.

Source: WENN

Earlier this week we told you about the internet’s negative reaction to Queens rapper LL Cool J’s collaborative track with country singer Brad Paisely. During a recent appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, LL addressed the controversial track, titled “Accidental Racist” and admits that it “wasn’t perfect,” but it was put out with good intensions. Check out some of what he had to say.

On how he feels about the controversy surrounding “Accidental Racist:”

“I feel good. The song wasn’t perfect. You can’t fit 300 or 400 years of history into a three or four-minute song.”

On being criticized for downplaying slavery and racism:

“A lot of people took offense to the lyrics and ultimately, I can’t defend the song, but I can clarify my intentions. There’s a point in the song where I say, ‘If you don’t judge my du-rag, I won’t judge your red flag.’ I in no way would compare the history of the Confederate flag with a du-rag. However, when you think about a kid like Trayvon Martin, and you think about some of the things that happen in society based on clothing and when you put it in its proper context it makes sense.”

“I would never suggest to anyone that we should forget slavery and act like that didn’t happen. I understand the systemic racism that exists. But if the playing field is unleveled and you feel it’s unfair, then maybe putting down some of that baggage would help you to make it up that hill a little bit easier.”

On his intentions behind putting out the song: 

“The intention was to put a song out there that causes people to have a conversation. The fact that we’re having so many conversations about this song is proof that the song did its job. People are talking about it. That elephant in the room needs to be discussed.”

Turn the page to watch LL’s interview. Do you feel he has a point? 

Source: Shutterstock

Outrage erupted at the University of Capetown in South Africa when the school’s paper, The Varsity published the results of a highly controversial study conducted on campus, in an article entitled, “Is Love Colour Blind?,” reports Sowetan Live. The study suggests that students on the campus find White people “more attractive” than people of other races.

Sixty students on the UCT campus were surveyed and the study revealed that 38% of participants felt White people were the “more attractive” race. 19% said they preferred Coloureds, which according to the Encyclopedia Britannica is “a person of mixed European (‘white’) and African (‘black’) or Asian ancestry.” 14% said they found Indians “more attractive” and only 8% said they found Blacks attractive.

“In total, I surveyed 60 people, 10 from each of the following racial groups: white, coloured (culturally), Indian, East Asian, biracial and African,” the article’s author, Qamran Qabo.

Yesterday, following an outcry from school organizations such as the Student Representatives Council, the South African Student Congress and the Young Communist League, the paper was forced to apologize.

Chairman of the university’s YCL branch, Mangaliso Khomo expressed that she found the study to be insensitive and revealed that race relations is still a “working progress” on the campus. University of Cape Town spokesman Pat Lucas has declined to comment on the matter.

Aside from the rather small population of people surveyed and the study’s questionable results, the real issue that should be addressed is why students even felt it necessary to conduct such a study. But I suppose we should ask Psychology Today that same question since the web publication found themselves under fire after publishing a similar study back in 2011.

What do you think of the UCT study?

Linda Brown Smith at the South Carolina State House on the 25th anniversary of the Brown vs. Board of Education case. At right, Bejamin Hooks, the executive director of the NAACP. AP Photo

On Tuesday evening, Teach for American Outreach hosted an online discussion about race and education, looking at the historical context as well as the implications of current issues including No Child Left Behind and the Franklin v. University of Texas Supreme Court case.

Moderated by Teach for America manager of professional recruitment Christie Clark, “Civil Rights in the Classroom: The Past, Present, and Future of Race and Education in the U.S.” featured Dr. Sheneka Williams, assistant professor of educational administration and policy at the University of Georgia, Saba Bireda, policy and legal advisor for EducationCounsel LLC, and Justin Reid, associate director at the Civil Rights Movement-related Moton Museum in Virginia.

The event was part educational and part for recruitment, as Teach for America is still accepting applications for fall of 2013, with the final rounds of deadlines on January 11 and February 13.

The panelists looked at the historical context of Plessy v. Ferguson and Brown v. Board of Education, with an eye toward how these decisions impacted the current state of education in the US.

“Start with Plessy and think about how segregation in public facilities was seen as an OK practice at that time,” Williams explained. That led to  ”separate but equal” in the education system, which eventually led to Brown v. Board of Education.

Reid discussed how the NAACP spent years filing suits against “separate but equal” in schools. However, they realized that “in order to really make American schools equal, they had to be integrated.” Brown v. Board of Education was an “integration suit, which was at first a class action suit involving hundreds of plaintiffs saying we want integrated schools.”

“Brown really informed our whole understanding of what equal opportunities in education really means,” said Bireda. “After Brown, there was a transformative movement in education and Civil Rights. While progress to integrate was slow, there was a transformative effect on education.”

With the background laid out, the trio also discussed the recent achievement goals in Florida and Virginia, which seemed to include lower goals for black and Latino students compared to their white and Asian counterparts. Virginia has since revised its goals.

“If you set the bar differently for different races, are we saying that for poor little Johnny who is black or Latino, that this is the best he’s going to do? Let’s set the bar where he is and keep it there because it’s not likely he’ll get farther?” Williams said. “It’s the perpetuation of the achievement gap that we have. We need to think about how this would translate in the classroom. How will people respond to these students? There is a trickle-down element here.”

And the panel looked at the current Supreme Court case on race-based admissions, Fisher v. University of Texas, highlighting that Teach for America has joined with 100 other organizations to sign an amicus brief in support of the University.

“What is at stake here is the future of our economy and the future of the opportunities in this country,” Bireda said. “That has implications for what our workforce looks like and whether or not we’re going to be competitive globally.”

The panelists also answered attendee questions, including advice for first-time teachers. Answer: check your biases at the door and get to know the students without pre-judging.

“If we don’t get education right, we enter a new generation of slavery of sorts,” Williams said. “I know everybody cringes at that word, but we have to understand that we are a diverse country and what has been the norm is no longer. We have to embrace that and start there. Everyone deserves a chance at equal educational opportunities. If we don’t get this right, long-term, there is a trickle-down effect and we might never get out of this economic situation in this country.”

A record number of 4.8 million Americans are now in an interracial marriage, meaning 1 out of every 12 marriages involves people of a different race. The percentage is still small—8.2 percent—when compared with marriages between people of the same race, but when you look at the fact that that number was 3.2 percent in 1980, it’s clear this trend is quickly rising.

According to the Pew Research Center, which used data from the previous census as well as the 2008-2010 American Community Survey, which surveys 3 million households annually, Asians and Hispanics continued to be the most likely to marry someone of a difference race, but the biggest increase in interracial marriages occurred among African Americans. Blacks who married outside their race increased from 15.5 percent in 2008 to 17.1 percent in 2010, which the Associated Press says is “due in part to a rising black middle class that has more interaction with other races.”

Other findings included:

• Black men were more than twice as likely as black women to marry someone outside their race: 24 percent vs. 9 percent. For Asians, the reverse was true: 17 percent of Asian men married someone of a different race compared to 36 percent of Asian women.
• White-Asian couples who married had the highest median income, nearly $71,000, followed by Asian-Asian ($62,000), white-white ($60,000), white-Hispanic ($57,900), white-black ($53,187), black-black ($47,700) and Hispanic-Hispanic (nearly $36,000).
• The top three states for white-black married couples are Virginia, North Carolina and Kansas, all with rates of about 3 percent.

Public acceptance of interracial marriage is improving as well, although perhaps not as much as it should be. About 83 percent of Americans say it is “all right for blacks and whites to date each other,” which is a big jump from the 48 percent who said so in 1987. About 63 percent of those surveyed also say it “would be fine” if a family member were to marry outside their own race.

In addition to changing attitudes about interracial marriage, researchers point out that the influx in Asian and Hispanic immigrants has also increased the dating pool. But now that there are substantial numbers of immigrants in the US, members of these racial groups may be able to find a partner of the same ethnic makeup up going forward, which could slow interracial marriage rates.

Divorce, which is high across the board, was found to be more likely among interracial couples. The Pew researchers cited a study conducted a decade ago which found that mixed-race couples had a 41 percent chance of separation or divorce, compared to 31 percent for those who married within their race. A different analysis found divorce rates among mixed-race couples was more dependent on the specific race combination, with white women who married outside their race being more likely to divorce. Mixed marriages involving blacks and whites were also considered the least stable, followed by Hispanic-white couples.

Overall, Paul Taylor, director of Pew’s Social & Demographic Trends project, sees this data as a positive sign of racial tolerance in America.

“In the past century, intermarriage has evolved from being illegal, to be a taboo and then to be merely unusual. And with each passing year, it becomes less unusual. That says a lot about the state of race relations. Behaviors have changed and attitudes have changed.”

Do you agree that the rise in interracial marriages is a sign of improved race relations?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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At least somebody gets it. A new poll by CBS and the New York Times shows that a decent portion of Americans think the government should focus more on minority issues. Specifically, 39% say the government isn’t paying enough attention to problems concerning people of color, while 35% think the right amount attention is being paid; another 16% say the government is already paying too much attention to minority issues.

White and black Americans see things drastically differently. One in five white Americans think the government is paying too much attention to minority issues, while another 31% think it’s not paying enough. Black people overwhelmingly say the federal government isn’t paying enough attention, 77%, and 17% say the government is paying the right amount.

There’s also a difference among political parties. Democrats mostly think the government isn’t paying enough attention to the needs of minorities, 55%, but most Republicans think either the right amount of attention is being paid, 43%, or too much 29%. That’s not surprising for a party that values limited government involvement.

Attention on minorities can be a bit of a catch 22 though, as we already know. More than just the right amount of attention, the government needs to have the appropriate focus on minority issues and not go the route of our dear frenemies Newt Gingrich, Jesee Peterson, and countless others who have a skewed view of race relations and concerns African Americans and other minorities are facing.

Where do you stand on the government’s focus on minority issues? Should they be doing more, less, or is their involvement just right?

Brande Victorian is a blogger and culture writer in New York City. Follower her on Twitter at @be_vic.

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America is such a global heavyweight that we forget the nation is only 235 years old, barely an adolescent as far as empires go. More than a third of U.S. history is marked by the legal institution of slavery and we’ve been dealing with the fallout of racial inequality ever since it was abolished. But cultural traditions run deep and propagate down generations. While progress is steady, America’s color lines don’t erase easy.

And few things warp a child’s mind more than the ridiculous notion that people don’t like you or judge you because you’re black. Even as an adult, it’s infuriating, depressing and demeaning all at once. Socially, it causes us to defend and define our existence out of habit. I’m not a “man in America” but rather a “black man in America,” and the difference is anything but subtle.

Today’s racism is often subtle, unlike the strain that infected the nation during the civil rights era. It’s carefully veiled. Daily situations are more shades of grey than simply black or white. Like any form of oppression, the people on the receiving end are left with the impotence to say something. But sometimes, our learned defensiveness jumps the gun and what appears to be classic racism may actually be a case of mistaken identity.

Here are the 7 most common things that get billed racist when the check should be going somewhere else.

Being Confused as a Store Clerk

Ever go shopping in [insert chain store here] and a white person asks you for help? The first thing you think is, “Oh, you think I work here because I’m black?” but not so fast. There are plenty of non-racist reasons someone might think you work there like your outfit. I’ve been caught out there wearing matching colors to the store clerks.

Sometimes people just aren’t being mindful. Say you knock over a few boxes of cereal and start resetting them as someone walks over with a burning question, hardly looking your direction in her thirst to consume. Silly things like that happen all the time. But if you’re wearing a boardroom suit in the supermarket and some white person comes up talking about, “where’s the oatmeal,” that’s some racist s#!@

According to new USA Today/Gallup Poll results released today, 35 percent of Americans surveyed believe that race relations under President Obama have improved. While it’s nice to see the hope in those results, the findings are actually down from a similar survey taken in 2009, which had 41 percent of Americans saying race relations had been better than in the past. A decline in the number of people that think we’re all mixing and mingling well is not a good look, especially since 23 percent (not TOO far off from that 35 percent) of Americans polled at the beginning of this month actually feel race relations have gotten worse.

With Martin Luther King Jr.’s memorial being dedicated on the 28 of this month, it’s pretty disappointing to hear that more and more people aren’t seeing or feeling an improvement in the way we coexist based on our color. According to Gallup, it was predicted the day after President Obama’s election by a whopping 70 percent of people that race relations would get better. But with folks in the public eye calling President Obama “boy” and using the word “hizzouse” to describe the White House based on the guests he invites (which is his damn business), it’s clear that tact and race relations aren’t really on the up and up. But there’s good news! An optimistic 52 percent of Americans believe that President Obama’s election will help to improve race relations in the future. Well, we’ll wait and see about that…

Do you think race relations have gotten better, worse or stayed the same?

(the Loop21) — Weeks ago, I sat through movie previews in Paris—my adopted city since 2004—waiting patiently on Woody Allen’s “Midnight in Paris.” A trailer for another film called “Case Départ” ran for a full minute before I realized what I was watching: a comedy about slavery. Two French Cameroonians were transported to transatlantic slavery time, fighting their way back to the present while shucking and jiving on a plantation. The crowd around me (black and white) was cracking up. The moment made me happy to be leaving France this summer, moving back to my native America for the first time in seven years.

Since the early ’00s of the Iraq War and the reelection of Bush II, I fielded lots of questions about my move abroad, but mostly people immediately understood. As a young author at the time, I had my own personal James Baldwin fantasies to live out. The bleak post-9/11 climate of New York City caused plenty of exoduses then—still, most people stuck to this side of the ocean.

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