A Choice, Not an Echo!
Frank Borzellieri, occasional writer for AR and a speaker at the 1996 AR conference, is in a fierce campaign fight for New York City city council. Mr. Borzellieri, who has already won crushing victories in campaigns for school board, is challenging a sitting Republican councilman, Tom Ognibene, whom he calls a “liberal Democratic errand boy.” Mr. Ognibene had made a sweetheart deal with the Democrats to run unopposed in the general election, so a win for Mr. Borzellieri in the primary should give him a virtually unopposed shot at city council.
Imagine a speaker at an AR conference on the New York City city council! The media have begun to wake up to what this means, so Mr. Borzellieri’s campaign is the only primary fight to get wide-spread print and TV coverage. In a typical smear job, someone named Albor Ruiz opens his column with the accusation that Mr. Borzellieri “believes that slavery was a good thing.” Only well into the column does it become clear that what Mr. Borzellieri really said is that today’s black Americans are better off here than they would be if their ancestors had stayed in Africa. Mr. Ruiz, of course, wants people to think the candidate wants to reestablish slavery.
The campaign has been predictably brutal. Mr. Ognibene has already tried the typical rich-incumbent-bully tactic of a court challenge to the legitimacy of Mr. Borzellieri’s citizen signatures on petitions that give him the right to run. Since the signatures are virtually assured to be found valid in court, this is nothing more than a way to make Mr. Borzellieri spend his slim resources on lawyers.
The challenger is fighting back the best way he can — door to door. With only a few thousand voters in the primary, it is possible to make a personal appeal to virtually all of them, and Mr. Borzellieri has lost 15 pounds trying to do just that. With his immense popularity among white ethnics as a man who stands for Western Civilization, Mr. Borzellieri not only has a fanatically dedicated group of supporters but a real chance of winning. As the former Queens Republican chairman (and no friend of Mr. Borzellieri) puts it: “[Incumbent] Tom [Ognibene] is in for one helluva fight. Frank [Borzellieri] has his own constituency.” He needs more money, though, which could make all the difference in the home stretch.
The primary is in September. This will be a race to watch.
Entrepreneurial Spirit
Former South African first lady Winnie Mandela has decided to make a buck on her now-sour relationship with Nelson. She is selling little bottles of soil from under the Soweto house she shared with Mr. Mandela in the 1950s. At $11.00 each, the bottles come with signed certificates of authenticity and a short history of the house. Miss Mandela has turned the garage into a gift shop, and is promoting guided tours of what promises to be an important South African tourist attraction. (Winnie Mandela Sells Bottles of Soil to Tourists, Jet, May 12, 1997.)
Three white Michigan teenagers who hopped a slow-moving freight train got a surprise when they got off by mistake in a black ghetto. The two boys, aged 14 and 15, and a 14-year-old girl overshot their rural, mostly-white destination of Holly, Michigan, and found themselves in a derelict part of Flint called “the Strip.”
They set off into the dark looking for a pay phone, and were “befriended” by six young blacks who led them to a deserted park. The blacks pistol-whipped and gang-raped the girl while they threatened the boys with a shotgun. Then they forced the three to lie down while one shot the boys in the backs of their heads, execution-style with a .22-caliber pistol, and then shot the girl in the face. They left the whites for dead, after robbing them — of ten dollars.
One of the boys died, but the other boy and the girl staggered out of the park covered in blood, the girl dressed only in a white T-shirt. They made it to a highway where a black truck driver finally rescued them. He later said he was worried about what two white kids were “doing down here at this time of the night.”
One resident of “the Strip” has a straightforward explanation for what happened: “They would have stuck out like a sore thumb, three white kids in this neighborhood — they’d be sitting ducks.” But a hate crime? Hardly. No dispatches — almost all local — have used the phrase and some news reports have not mentioned race at all. Not one of the six blacks charged with the crime, who range in ages from 16 to 23, had a criminal record. (Brian Murphy, 6 Charged in Attack on Teens, Detroit Free Press, June 24, 1997, p. 1A. Brian Harmon and Ron French, Attack on 3 Teens in Flint Netted $10, Detroit News, June 24, 1997.)
The Mexican deaf-mutes held in captivity in New York City and forced to work in the subways have attracted headlines, but this sort of thing is not so rare among immigrants. In a typical case last year, a Miami-area couple pleaded guilty to enslaving a woman. Kishin Mahtani and Shashi Gobindram, held a 23-year-old woman from India in their home against her will for seven months. They burned her passport and address book, and forced her to work 16-hour days. They disciplined her by beating and burning her, and holding her head under water. (Couple Plead Guilty to Enslaving Servant, Chicago Tribune, Dec. 6, 1996, p. 6.)
Yearning to be Black
Mostafa Hefny is a 46-year-old naturalized U.S. citizen, originally from Egypt. He has negroid features more pronounced than those of, say, Colin Powell, but since Egyptians do not get racial preferences, he is suing to be considered black. (John Hughes, Man Sues to Change Federal Racial Definitions, Detroit Free Press, June 5, 1997, p. 17A.)
Last May, Indonesian Prime Minister Mahathir bin Muhammed was the keynote speaker at the Southern African International Dialogue held in Botswana. To an enthusiastic audience that included the heads of government of 12 African nations, Dr. Mahathir argued that “the north” is intent on recolonising “the south” by means of “globalization.” If the Third World is not offered its rightful share of global wealth it should use “people mobility” as the ultimate weapon: “We should migrate North in the millions, legally or illegally . . . Masses of Asians and Africans should inundate Europe and America.” (Ian Stewart, Mahathir Warns of Migrant Flood, The Australian, May 7, 1997.)
Life Among the Savages
Dianna Meeks is a 25-year-old mother of four children who range in age from 6 years to 17 months. In March she had a fifth child, who was premature and weighed 5 pounds 11 ounces. She named him Dontory. By the time Dontory was two months old he had lost nearly 50 percent of his body weight and was down to three pounds. When Miss Meeks took him in for a checkup, the doctor ordered her to take Dontory to the hospital immediately and even wrote out directions how to get there. Instead, Miss Meeks left the baby with a sister and went shopping. Later she took Dontory along with her four other children to a nail care salon, where Dontory died. A post mortem showed no evidence of food in his system. Miss Meeks explained that she did not go to the hospital because she was afraid she might be accused of maltreating her child and might lose public assistance. She has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, but faces no more than five years in prison. (Herbert McCann, AP, Chicago, May 26, 1997.)
Wicked Whites
In what may be a first, a white Christian denomination has been found guilty of racial discrimination against a white minister. John Shirkey, who has spent most of his 30-year career working in the worst neighborhoods of Baltimore and Washington, applied for a position with the United Methodist Church’s Black Community Developer program, which was established to help “confront racism” and spiff up rundown neighborhoods. However, he learned that the church had a policy according to which “The community developer will be from the indigenous population,” and appears to have been denied the job on this basis. A jury awarded him $180,000. (Minister Vindicated in Lawsuit, AP, Baltimore, May 31, 1997.)
Facing the Future
Moko, the Maori tradition of face tattooing, is making a comeback. New Zealand natives traditionally sported elaborate, swirling tattoos, and in the 19th century Moko took on additional meaning as a sign of anti-white resistance. It all but died out in the 1920s, but is being revived for nationalistic reasons. “This is the direction to Maori freedom, self-determination and sovereignty . . . It is how we, as Maori, can revive and express our view of the right to self-determination,” explains a young enthusiast. Some of the early pioneers were gang members and outcasts, but Moko is rapidly moving up-scale. Two Maori members of the New Zealand parliament are reportedly thinking of “taking the Moko,” and activists look forward to the day when much of the middle class sports tattoos. (Simon Louisson, Reuter, Moko Face Tattooing Part of Maori Renaissance, Jun. 5, 1997.)
Death to the White Man
Janet Reno wants affirmative action for whites — on death row. Under new guidelines she established in 1995 to ensure “consistency and fairness,” she has tripled the rate at which whites who commit federal crimes face capital charges. She has accomplished this mainly by consolidating prosecution decisions in Washington. Traditionally, local federal prosecutors decided whether they would seek the death penalty, but now Washington decides. Miss Reno has ordered her “death penalty committee” explicitly to consider races of victim and perpetrator in reaching decisions.
As one experienced assistant state attorney general says, “It seems to me to be an invitation to do exactly the thing you’re told you can’t do — consider race when you decide whether to seek the death penalty or not.” Vivian Berger, assistant dean of Columbia University law school says she can imagine some federal bureaucrat saying, “Now we should prosecute some white defendant capitally because we haven’t done any whites lately.” Fortunately, only a small minority of death penalty cases involve federal crimes. Most are state matters and are beyond Miss Reno’s grasp.
In the past, the federal government showed no apparent racial bias against non-whites. Of the 34 criminals it executed between 1927 and 1963, 27 were white. However, since the death penalty was revived in 1988, it has taken on a pattern that Miss Reno finds offensive. Only one of the 12 civilians now awaiting execution for federal crimes is white. Nine are black, one is Asian and one is Hispanic. (Frank Murray, Reno Seeking More Executions Among White U.S. Defendants, Washington Times, June 17, 1997.)
Go Native, Go Extinct
It has become fashionable among liberal white South Africans to adopt black babies. As the Times of London reports:
Three years after Nelson Mandela was elected as South Africa’s first black president, hundreds of white couples are trying to adopt abandoned black babies because it “makes them feel like they belong in the new South Africa,’ according to one sociologist. ‘These people are riddled with angst and guilt about their role in the country today. Some of them were involved in the freedom struggle against white minority rule and now want to prove themselves even more by adopting a black child.’
Trans-racial adoptions were illegal under apartheid, and many black activists are appalled at what they see as looming “cultural genocide.” However, because of the Mandela-era chaos the number of abandoned black babies has quadrupled in the last three years. The increased supply has been met by a rising demand among whites, many of whom can have children of their own but want a black baby to “complete” their families. (Andrew Malone, “Guilt Trip’ Whites Adopt Black Babies, The Times (London), June 22, 1997.)
Polluted Justice
Like so many other companies, Chevron Corporation has been sued for “environmental racism.” In this case, the “racism” dates back to the 1920s, when Gulf Oil stored oil in pits in the Houston area. Gulf later sold the land to a developer who planned to build a “Negro” neighborhood on the site. Some of the oil has allegedly seeped into the water supply where it is said to cause cancer, lupus, and other unpleasantness. Chevron is now on the hook because it acquired Gulf Oil.
In August, the case was halted in mid-trial when the presiding judge, Kenneth Hoyt, questioned whether an Arthritis Foundation study on lupus rates among blacks could be admitted as evidence “because white people wrote it.” Chevron maintains that the black judge has shown consistent prejudice against whites and against the company. The trial was likely to continue under a different judge.
In other on-the-record observations in the case, Judge Hoyt has shown an interest in the evolutionary origins of racial differences:
Why do you think Chinese people are so short? Because there is so much damn wind over there they need to be short. Why are they so tall in Africa? Because they need to be tall. It’s environmental.“I mean, you don’t jump up and get a banana off a tree if you’re only four feet. If you’re seven feet tall and you’re standing in China, then you’re going to get blown away by that Siberian wind, aren’t you? (Reuter, Houston, Racially Charged Chevron Pollution Case Halted, Aug. 2, 1997.)
Patriots All
Last summer, when Congress passed a law that would make legal immigrants ineligible for most welfare programs, there was a huge rush of applications for citizenship. After all, 725,000 immigrants receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) payments alone, and many of them wanted to keep their snouts in the public trough. Now that Congress has decided to restore benefits to aliens, the rush is over. Groups hurriedly set up to help foreigners become American now have nothing to do, and English classes have emptied. Many immigrants who set the citizenship process in motion have now asked for their application papers back. (Ken Mclaughlin & Ariana Cha, Bay Area Agencies Link Drop to Vow to Restore Benefits, San Jose Mercury News, July 31, 1997. Annie Nakao, Rush To Become Citizens Slowing, Aid Groups Say, San Francisco Examiner, July 30, 1997.)
Walking Streets No More
Pedro Rosario of Boston raped a 33-year-old woman in 1991 but served only 2½ years of his 10-year sentence. In 1995, he raped an Irish college student and then cut her throat. In June, he was finally sentenced to life in prison without parole. Ironically, at the time of the rape/murder, Mr. Rosario was the subject of a man-in-the-street TV news interview about the crime. “You can’t even walk the streets no more,” he complained to Boston viewers. (Paroled Rapist Murdered Second Victim, NRA CrimeStrike’s Crime Watch Weekly, Vol. 3, No. 25, June 24, 1997.)
The Ideal Patient
Hospitals all around the country are in vigorous competition for the most lucrative patients — pregnant paupers. Astonishing as this may sound, a welfare mother means more money for hospitals than a lady with insurance. The reason is that insurers have begun to cut costs and squeeze payments, whereas Medicare and pre-natal care for the indigent are sacred government budget items and cannot be cut.
Most hospitals can handle a typical, uncomplicated birth for about $1,500. Medicaid, however, pays a flat $5,000 to $6,000 per birth, no matter how simple or complicated. Occasionally a welfare birth can be an expensive mess, but most welfare mothers are young and relatively good risks for hospitals. As one hospital executive explains, “You’re definitely rolling the dice, but from a bottom-line standpoint, the statistical probability is you’ll come out ahead.”
An astonishing 40 percent of all American births are paid for by Medicaid, so this is a vital market for obstetrics wards. Hospitals are wooing the pregnant poor with free baby showers, leafleting campaigns in the slums, and designer birthing rooms. Some hospitals even plan billboard and radio ads. All this emphasis on giving birth no doubts prompts some ghetto teenagers to give it a try. (Anita Sharpe, How “Medicaid Moms’ Became a Hot Market for Health Industry, Wall Street Journal, May 1, 1997, p. 1.)
Culture Battle Rages
Detroit has two important museums. One is the Detroit Institute of the Arts, begun as a private collection in 1885 and given to the city in 1919. It is America’s fifth-largest art museum and contains many masterpieces. It gets little support from the city and its building is falling down. The other museum opened in 1997 just one block away. It is a palace with bronze outside doors and mahogany interior doors. Portions of the decorative masks that tower over the main entrance are, literally, 14-carat gold plated. This is the Detroit Museum of African-American History, the largest such museum in the country.
The city’s annual subsidy to the new museum is $1.5 million but it gives only $400,000 to the old one. The Art Institute pays Detroit $1.2 million a year in municipal fees whereas the city waives the fees for the new museum. When it comes to actual art objects, the African-American museum is so sparsely equipped that many of its traditional African masks are on loan from the Art Institute. (Keith Bradsher, A Rich Museum and Its Poor Cousin, New York Times, May 28, 1997, p. B1.)
Helping the Race
Bill Gates, with an estimated net worth of $18.5 billion, is the richest man in America. He has promised that he will give away 95 percent of his wealth before he dies. Where is his money likely to go? Last year he gave $16 million to the United Negro College Fund. In June of this year, complaining that a shortage of good software engineers is slowing Microsoft’s growth, he gave $1.2 million worth of computer equipment to six Atlanta-area black colleges. We expect to receive a press release when Microsoft starts hiring engineers from Morehouse, Spellman, Paine, and Morris Brown Colleges. (AP, Bill Gates Donates $1.2 million to Black Colleges, June 3, 1997.)
Booting the Boot Camps
The big crime prevention idea during the 1980s was “boot camps.” Democrats and Republicans alike fell for the idea that criminals could be reformed if they were put through military-style training. Many states that built boot camps are now quietly shutting them down. They are much more expensive than prisons and no better. An Arizona study found that nearly 70 percent of 1,253 criminals who went through training were back in custody within four to seven years — a rate no lower than that of ordinary yard birds. (Joe Davidson, “Shock’ Camps, Failing to Cure Recidivism, Get the Boot, Wall Street Journal, April 18, 1997, p. A20.)
A year-long study by television station KABC in Los Angeles has shown that people tend to assume that any given violent criminal is likely to be black. Even when crime news programs made no reference to a perpetrator, 42 percent of viewers who took part in the study incorrectly recalled having seen one. Two-thirds of the time, they recalled that the imaginary perp was black. Survey participants were of all races, and all were just as likely to make the same — often correct — assumption. Naturally, reports of the study tried to make it sound as though these results were caused by media bias. (Howard Kurtz, TV Crime Coverage is Biased, Study Says, Lansing State Journal, May 2, 1997, p. 3B.)