Strollerderby : hatred

Fox Asks, “Would You Want Terrorists Living in Your Backyard?”

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Mon, 09 Feb 2009 18:30:00 GMT

In response to President Obama’s executive order to close Guantanamo, give the remaining detainees fair trials, and ban torture (you know, the kinds of basic civil liberties that have governed civilized societies since the Magna Carta), Fox News has responded with unprecedented fear mongering.

As you can see in the clip below, they sent a reporter to Pennsylvania, armed with photos of apparently Muslim men—some in turbans, some simply dark-skinned. They showed these photos to people on the street and asked, “Would you want terrorists living in your backyard?”

Let's quickly unpack a few blatant problems with this question. First, the vast majority of the remaining men at Guantanamo have been held for seven years with ever being charged with a crime. The Pentagon admits that only five percent of them were picked up on a battlefield, and has already cleared many of them for release. They are no more convicted terrorists than I am.

And who said anything about housing Guantanamo detainees in a backyard? If these men are brought to the U.S., they will be housed in maximum security prisons. America’s criminal justice system is the best in the world. Federal courts have convicted 145 people on international terrorism charges since 9/11—while Guantanamo’s military commissions have made all of TWO convictions.

Perhaps most egregious of Fox was to associate photos of random dark-skinned men with terrorists. Let’s remember that many men who look exactly like the people in these photographs are American citizens. Their kids attend school with the same kids who watched this outrageous segment on Fox.

Knowing that this level of irrational fear and hatred exists in millions of families in the U.S., those parents who do not watch Fox News have a special responsibility to teach their children tolerance and the courage to impart tolerance to their peers.

The best part of this clip is at the end, when the anchors all decide that the remaining Guantanamo detainees should be held at Alcatraz—you know, with all those West Coasters who hate America. Um, I hate to be a nitpicker, but Alcatraz is a theme park. Would you rather have suspected terrorists held at a theme park than at a maximum-security prison?

Photo: viralpolitics.com

Sixth Graders Disciplined for Hit a Jew Day

JeanneSager — Fri, 24 Oct 2008 19:07:00 GMT

I'm not a big fan of corporal punishment, but there are days its tempting to hit a kid. Specifically ones who would come up with "Hit a Jew Day" to celebrate their school's spirit week.

The goal of "spirit week" was to encourage celebrations like "hug a friend day" and "high five day" at a Missouri middle school. But the sixth graders who coined "Hit a Jew Day" decided to slap one Jewish student across the face and smack two others on the arm. The incident was turned into a chance for the principal to talk about the Holocaust, multi-culturalism and acceptance of others, and the kids were suspended.

The principal did the right thing, but I wonder what else can be done. I don't honestly think corporal punishment is in order - that was a knee-jerk reaction to the horror of the headline at CNN. What's needed is tolerance and compassion, modeling of behaviors that these children apparently don't see every day. I can't believe intolerance is inate. Kids don't come up with this kind of hatred on their own (even if the means of carrying it out are their own creation). Suspension usually means days spent at home, more time spent in a household where they're being raised to think up "Hit a Jew Day." What's next? Crosses blazing on the middle school lawn? An Australian study showed we're likely to become less tolerant as we age, not more, so this isn't that much of an overreaction.

So how do you reverse it? Counseling? Maybe. Putting thse kids in the other kids' shoes? How? As I said, hitting back isn't the answer.

It's a reminder that we're responsible for modeling the right behavior for our kids. A lot of people assume they can tell an off color joke as long as they don't "really" believe it. Guess what; kids can't tell the difference. Literally and figuratively mean nothing to them. Everything you say, they hear. Everything they hear gets filed away, and when it starts piling up in there, they start forming their opinions on life based on all of that stored up information. We have to give them the "right" information if we expect the "right" decisions.

Image: FamilyCrafts

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"Pregnant Man" Beattie Loves the Limelight

Hannah Tennant-Moore — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 13:50:00 GMT

I am becoming increasingly convinced that Thomas Beattie (better known as the “pregnant man”) is a bit of a publicity whore. This isn’t necessarily a problem, so long as the publicity he seeks does more good than harm for the transgender community—and for his daughter, born on June 29.

In the latest Beattie media frenzy, September Films, a London firm, has beat out four other production companies in winning the rights to make a documentary telling Beattie’s story. The hourlong film will air on Channel 4, with rights to the film licensed globally. The Discovery Channel is currently seeking exclusive U.S. rights.

With his Oprah appearance, his memoir-in-progress (including tales of participating in beauty pageants in his youth), and now this film, Beattie seems keen on maintaining a large spot in the limelight. This is certainly not unusual in these days of reality TV and "It Happened to Me" bestsellers, but it becomes a bit more complicated when there is a child involved. I just hope the widespread publicity of Beattie’s unusual situation helps establish more tolerance for transgender folks and their children, not more hatred.

Photo: livenews.com